A Past Remembered
by PP-PhantomPhoenix
Summary: What if Beth had been a year older, and had vaguely understood what she was seeing when Mick rescued her. Would she have recognized him when she saw him at the crime scene? If she had, how would things have been different? Hiatus, see profile for details.
1. Chapter 1

What if Beth had been a year older, and had vaguely understood what she was seeing when Mick rescued her. Would she have recognized him when she saw him at the crime scene? If she had, how would things have been different? Oh, and a thank you to Evilous, she helped reread this, and she helped me come up witht he title, so thanks.

This is my first fan fiction ever, so I'm a little nervous, the only one I'd writen before had a bad response, and I don't count that one.

Beth is 27, she had just turned 5 when she was kidnapped.

Ok, usual disclamer, this is not mine, I recieve no profit from this.

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Chapter 1

"It could work Mick; you, me, and baby." The scary woman with the strange teeth was talking to the man, Mick, who had come.

"No, I'm not gonna let you hurt that girl. I _can't _let you." He seemed to know what was going on, who the woman was.

The woman pushed her out from between them sp she could push him, hard. He slammed against the wall, he looked up, and then his eyes and teeth went strange, he attacked the woman. They fought, only stopping when he pinned her beneath him, and she went strangely still.

He walked over to her, and she shrunk back, he knelt down to her level. "Come on, I'm gonna take ya home." Mick's eyes were normal, and as he spoke, she could see that his teeth were too. His eyes were a deep, comforting hazel. He held out his hand, and, slowly, she took it. He picked her up, and walked over to the table.

He picked up the lamp, and threw it onto the floor, flames shot up, as he left the room, shutting the door firmly behind him. The woman was silhouetted by the flames as they rose up, engulfing her. Mick turned her face away from the sight, shielding her with his body.

He took her home that night, her mother had been overwhelmed, she had thanked him over, and over, but he left almost immediately. He only stopped to make sure that she was all right, and then he left.

Beth woke up, slightly disorientated; she hadn't had that dream in months. I usually only happened in the fall, or when she saw someone who looked like the man who had saved her, or 'the scary woman'. It was spring, and she couldn't recall seeing anyone who had looked like either of them. 'Oh well.' Beth got up, and started getting ready for work.

Just as she was heading out the door, her phone rang. She hurried over to it. "I'm about ready to-"

"Leave?" it was her boss Maureen.

"Oh hi, and yes."

"Good, listen I need you to head over to the fountain in the square, we've got someone in it."

"What's so-" Work was going to be boring.

"They're dead."

"Oh! Now that's more like it." Work wasn't looking quite so boring now.

"And I want you to do it live this time, you need to get used to-"

"Are you sure I'm ready?" Beth had to ask."

"No, but you're going to do it any-"

"I'm on my way."

Beth." Maureen tired to talk, but Beth kept going.

"How do you want-"

"Beth!"

"What?"

"Just do it the way you normally do, now get you're butt over there."

"Heading out the door."

"Good." And she hung up.

Beth placed the phone back in it's cradle stood there for a second, then. "Yes!" She ran out the door, barely stopping to lock up, before racing to her car.

As she drove, she pondered the dream. There was nothing she could think of that might have triggered it.

Her arrival at the crime scene halted her thought for later. She hurried out of her car, and over to Steve, who was waiting for her.

"So what's going on?"

"Some girl's dead in the fountain, other that, no clue."

"Ok, here we go."

"Alright, action."

"A promising life cut tragically short, tonight a killer is on the loose. This is Beth Turner for Buzzwire."

"Cut." Steve gave her a thumbs up. "Really, I was ok?"

"Oh yeah, I mean no one will even know it was your first live webcast."

"We gotta get a shot of the body."

"Na, the cops won't let anyone get close."

"I'm not leaving with out my money shot." They look at each other. "Oh my god did I just say that?"

"Yes." Steve nodded his head.

"I've become a news whore overnight."

"Not overnight."

A car door slammed, and Beth turned her head. "Lt. Carl." She headed over to see him. "Carl, what can you tell me?"

"Uh, let's see Beth, nothing."

"Come on, I was first on scene. Who fed you the location of the 7 10 freeway shooter?" Beth prodded, trying to get him to tell her something.

He turned around, and looked at her for a second. "Alright fine. We think she was a Hearst College student, she had their mascot tattooed on a very discreet part of her anatomy."

"From or back." Carl was distracted by some people coming up with cameras.

"Not these guys, get these cameras outa here."

Taking advantage of his distraction, Beth slipped off her shoes, and walked toward the body.

As she got closer she noticed the girl was wrapped in a pink fabric, and that she had two puncture wounds on her neck. As she saw these, Beth sharply drew in breath. Her dream flashed into her head. Beth shook it to clear the images from her mind. Quickly she took some pictures with her phone, and left the scene, somewhat shaken.

She walked away, thinking. How could she have known that this was going to happen? Quickly opening the picture up, she looked at them closely. It wasn't a bite mark, it couldn't be, it wasn't messy enough.

Once she was old enough to research without her mother looking over her shoulder, Beth immediately began looking up vampires, how to kill them, what hurt them, what helped them, everything she could think of. She knew that not all of them could be bad, the one who had saved her, Mick had obviously not wanted anything to happen to her. If him saying, "I'm not gonna let you hurt that girl, I _can't _let you." Hadn't proven that well enough, the fact that he had shielded her from seeing what he had done to the woman, and then had taken her home, had.

She turned it off, and put it back in her pocket.

She kept walking, thoughts racing through her mind. Who was it, why were they making it look like a vampire had killed the girl, did they know vampires existed? Beth shook her head, trying to focus on her report, but her mind wouldn't listen. She couldn't get her thoughts to think of anything but the girl, or her dream. How could she have known that this was going to happen?

Beth looked around, trying to see if the killer had left anything behind? Nothing seemed out of place, but that didn't mean anything, she could be missing something obvious. Giving up on finding anything, Beth looked to see if anyone suspicious was standing around. No one that she could see, but there was a guy standing under some trees watching her. She walked toward him, he didn't move. She went up to him, trying to see his face.

"Yes." He said, and only Beth's practicing kept her heart steady, he would have heard if it sped up. It was him, the one who had save her, it had to be, she recognized his voice.

"Do I know you?" She asked.

"You tell me."

"You're a cop right?" She had to pretend she didn't know who, or what she was until she could get him to trust her.

He smirked, and shook his head slightly. "No."

"Reporter?"

He shook his head again, looking slightly amused. "Nope."

"I'm sure I've seen you somewhere, you look very familiar for some reason."

"Well, maybe I've just got one of those faces."

"No it's not that. It's like you're from a dream I had when I was younger, that I've half forgotten, or something." He looked wary at that statement, but didn't say anything. Beth remembered she was supposed to be covering a story, so she quickly came up with something to ask him. Ok, which do you like better? 'Vampire slaying rocks LA'" He responded just as she thought he would.

"There's no such thing as vampires."

"Well, I know that, but I don't think the girl in the fountain would agree." She turned around to look back at the crime scene. "I mean wouldn't-" She turned to look back at Mick, but he wasn't there, she looked around, but couldn't see him, where had he gone. She wasn't surprised by the speed with which he disappeared; it just proved that she was right in trusting her instincts with what was fact, and what was true with vampires. Some of the things people came up with were so unbelievably, it wasn't funny. Seriously, how could they turn into bats that just made no sense whatsoever. Nor did the idea that they would burst into flames the moment they walked into sunlight. They would be way to noticeable then, everyone would know they existed, and they would have died out long ago.

Beth shook her head, and walked back to Steve. "I think that's all we're going to get out of them for now, you might as well head back."

"Where are you heading off to?"

"I think I'm going to try and find the girl's car."

"Um, who said she didn't walk here?"

"No one walks in LA."

"Well, I'm just saying-"

"I'm going to look anyway." Beth helped him carry everything to his van, and then set off for the parking garage. She searched for a car with a parking permit for Hearst College, finally she found one. She took a picture if the permit, and noticed something hanging from the review mirror. It was a black bet. She had seen it several times while searching for information about vampires. It was an Egyptian hieroglyphic; an insignia for an ancient blood cult. So, the girl had either had an obsession with vampires, had know they existed, or been in a blood cult. Something told her that it was important, and she had long ago leaned to trust her instincts. Meeting Mick earlier had only strengthened it.

She took a picture of the hieroglyphic then sent copies of the girl's body to Buzzwire. She dialed Mo's number, and waited for her to pick up.

"Maureen for Buzzwire speaking."

"Hey, it's Beth, I just sent you some pictures of the girl's body. I'll be in later I've got an idea. I think I'm going to head over to her house to find out some more."

"Don't think, go. Mama needs fresh content."

"I'm on it." Mo hung up, and Beth headed back to her car. She called Sam.

"Hello."

"Hey Sam, it's Beth, I need you to find someone's house from a parking permit."

"Ok, give it to me."

"I'll send you the picture." She sent it, and waited for Sam to find something.

"Ok, I'll send you the apartment address."

"Thanks Sam."

"You owe me one."

"Yeah, I know."

"Good, see ya."

Beth pulled away from the fountain, and headed over to the address Sam had sent her. The cops were already there, she would just have to wait. She pulled out a book, preparing to read the time away. Just then a Mercedes Benz pulled up, dark green, and Mick was in the driver's seat.

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Ok, so tell me what you think. Oh, and on a different site Moonlight Fans, I have this ff on there under a different penname, PhantomPhoenix, but that one was already taken on this site, so I used this one.


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, next chapter.

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Chapter 2

Beth watched as the Benz parked nearby. What was he doing here? She shook her head, feeling foolish. The killer was trying to make it look like a vampire killed the girl, so if Mick had found that out, he would obviously want to take a look around. Beth grabbed her book, and tried to read, but found she couldn't, her mind was distracted by the tall, dark, not to mention her Guardian Angel, sitting in his car not far away.

Beth passed the time practicing her exercises. She would scare herself, and work at keeping her heart rate normal, or speed it up. She couldn't do her others in the car, but she could work on her breathing, with Mick around, she would defiantly need them. She didn't want him to get suspicious. And if every time she saw him, her heart rate sped up, he would quickly assume she knew something and probably disappear. It would simply not do for that to happen.

Finally, the cops left, locking the door behind them. Beth waited several minutes after they disappeared, before getting out of her car. She hurried across the street, and up to the girl's apartment.

She pulled out her lock pick, and efficiently unlocked the door. She slipped quietly inside, and shut the door behind her. She turned her flashlight on, and looked around. There were typical girl things on her dresser, makeup, perfume, that kind of thing. At her computer desk however, she found something in one of the drawers. A black cross made out of wire. She picked it up, looking at it. There was someone in the room with her, she could sense it.

There was movement behind her, she turned around, grabbing a vase as she went, and smashed someone on the head. Mick looked at her, not a scratch on his face. He just looked at her for several seconds, then said, quite unconcerned. "Ouch." She almost smiled but stopped herself just in time, she wasn't supposed to know him yet, she had after all just 'met' him this morning.

She pulled out a knife, not silver, but still useful, her silver one was at home. "You were at the crime scene."

"Easy with the knife, ok."

"Stay back."

"I'm not gonna hurt you." She knew that, but she wasn't supposed to.

"You're not gonna hurt me, how do I know you're not the killer?"

"Well, because I'm not killing you." That would probably be good enough. She checked her heart rate, good it was still going slightly fast.

"Ok, so let's say you're not the killer, and let's go with that because it is comforting, then who are you?"

"I'm a Private Investigator." Ok, now what do I ask him?

"Let me see your credentials." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, he held it up; she looked at it briefly, looking for his full name. "Mick St. John." Now if she slipped up, she would have some excuse as to how she knew his name. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm investigating the girl's murder." Beth nodded, accepting his answer for a partial truth, he couldn't very well tell her he was trying to find out if the girl knew vampires existed.

"Same here." She wondered how she could get him talking about vampires, without giving anything away. She looked at him, he was studying something, she walked over, and looked at something he was holding. It was a necklace, a miniature bat, identical to the one hanging in the girl's car. Perfect. "Hey, let me see that, I saw something that looked like that in her car. Here, look." She pulled out her phone, and showed him the picture. "I've been researching, and it's-"

"It's an insignia, for an ancient Egyptian blood cult, it's based off their hieroglyphics."

"Right, ok, so blood cult, so we're talking vampires." He looked at her, she grinned, and continued. "I know they don't exists, but something has got to explain all this, I mean she obviously had a thing for vampires."

Mick nodded, and said. "Yeah, I guess they're back in style. Do you know some people actually find them attractive?"

Beth raised an eyebrow. "Really." Then she decided to play with him for a little. "Well, they are tall, dark, mysterious, and they never age." She looked him up, and down. "Now if I didn't know they didn't exist, I might think you were one." The look he gave her was so funny, she almost burst out laughing, as it was she gave a slight chuckle, putting him at ease. "So, what are you doing here? I wouldn't think that a PI would just be here to be here."

"That falls under my 'Client Confidentiality Agreement'." Ok, that didn't work.

"But don't you want to know who I am, and what I'm doing here?" He looked at her, then smirked.

"You would be Beth Turner, and you work for Buzzwire." Beth looked at him in surprise, how had he known that? "It's entertaining, and quiet probably the best."

"The best what?" Was he complementing her, or Buzzwire?

"Thing they have." Ok, that didn't help.

"Oh, thanks." Mick looked down at the necklace, and pulled something out of it, a vial of something that looked like blood. "What is it?"

"Blood."

"One of us should take that to the police." Just then her phone rang. She pulled it out, it was Josh, a DA she knew, he was also one of her contacts. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Look, I just saw you're report, well, that's not why I called, um… do you think you could-"

"Hey, look I'm in the middle of something, can I call you back later?"

"Um, I guess so, bye."

"Bye." She hung up, and looked around, Mick was gone, and he had taken the necklace, along with the vial, with him, stupid vampire abilities. "Stop doing that!" He didn't answer, and she didn't sense anyone in the room with her, he was gone. She looked around the room quickly, but found nothing of interest. She left, being sure to lock the door; otherwise the police would be after her, that would not be fun.

As she drove home she thought about Mick, she was almost positive she had seen him before, and not as a child. She had seen someone in the shadows several times as a teenager.

Once she had been heading home from a friends, and someone had come up behind her, and held a knife to her throat, and told her to give him her purse. She had reached down to grab it, but suddenly the man was gone, she had turned around, but no one was there, she heard a shriek from an alley near her, and a man carrying a knife had come running out, looking terrified. He ran right past her, not looking back.

She had looked in the alley, and someone came out of the shadows, she couldn't see him very clearly, just his shape, and part of his face. His eyes had stood out the most, they were a warm hazel. He had told her to go home before someone else came along. She had complied, and gone home only once looking back, he had been standing there watching her, and she had felt safe, not freaked out.

Now as she thought about it, Mick had hazel eyes, they were also comforting, and warm.

She reached her house, and pulled into the garage. There was a light on in her kitchen. Beth pulled out the knife again, if someone wanted to steal anything, they would have a fight on their hands. She went around to the back door, and let herself in quietly. She walked slowly toward the kitchen, and as someone came out, she slammed into them, and pressed the knife to their throat. "What the hell are you doing in my house?" She spoke softly, and waited for them to reply.

"Um, Beth?" It was Josh, what was he doing in her house? She let go of him, and pulled the knife away from him, but kept it in her hand.

"I repeat, what the hell are you doing in my house?!"

"Um, I was going to ask you, but you were in the middle of something, so-"

"Ok, that still does not explain what you are doing here!"

"I was trying to make dinner for you!"

"Ok, why were you trying to make dinner for me, I told you I don't want to go out with you, is that so hard to understand. No I appreciate the offer, but you need to leave now."

"I'll clean up before-" He went to grab some plates, and out them in the sink, but Beth stopped him.

"I said now, that doesn't mean clean up first. I meant now, before I get angry!" She pointed at the front door.

"Ok, ok." He grabbed his coat off of a chair, and left. Beth slammed the door behind him. What was wrong with him, he had asked her out almost a year ago, and she had told him no politely, and they had become friends. Now he shows up at her house and without her permission, enters, and starts cooking dinner for her. Did he think she had just wanted to get to know him first? He wasn't her type; she wanted someone who wasn't afraid to do take risks. No one who was afraid to get their hands dirty would last a week with her. Not to mention they needed a little more muscle.

Beth shook her head, she was getting distracted. She put the knife back in her purse, and tossed in into one of the chairs in the living room. She went back into the kitchen, grabbed the plates, and put them in the dishwasher. She put the pasta in the fridge after putting it in a container, and did the same with the chicken.

As she tossed the rest of the pots into the dishwasher, her mind drifted to her other knife in her dresser. Now that she had met Mick, it would probably be a good idea to start carrying that one around as well. Hanging around Mick was likely going to bring other, perhaps less friendly vampires, into her life. Her normal knife would do no more that annoy them, and probably piss them of even more that they were to begin with. The silver one would do that too, but it would also hurt them a lot more.

She turned the dishwasher on, and let it run, the headed toward her bedroom. On the way there she grabbed her purse. She took the silver knife from her dresser, and put it in her pocket, in her purse it would be easier for someone else to fine, not to mention if she lost it, and the knife was in there, she was screwed. She crawled under her bed, and lifted up a loose floorboard, and pulled out a sack. In it she had several stakes, and a couple lighters. She grabbed three stakes, and two lighters. Two of the stakes she put in her purse, along with one of the lighters, the other she put in her pocket with the knife. The last stake she put under her pillow. Some might say she was paranoid, but she called it playing safe. The more she had to protect herself from a predator much stronger, and faster than her, the better.

Feeling slightly more secure now that she had done something that might save her life later, she headed out into the living room, grabbed a horror movie, and put it in the DVD player. As the things/people in the movie jumped out at other people Beth worked on keeping her heart rate even. After a half an hour of that she turned off the DVD, and went back into her room.

As she got ready to practice her defense, she felt something brush against her leg, she looked down, it was Phantom, her cat, he must have heard her come in. Phantom was a rather large cat, by house cat standards. He was a foot, and 4 inches tall, and almost three feet long including his tail. He had very thick, black, silky fur, and his eyes were a deep, yet bight brown gold. Beth had found him a year ago; he had only been a kitten then. He had been on the side of the road, next to a dead female cat, his mother. The victim of a car accident. He had only been about a month old. Beth had taken him home, and he had been with her ever since. She reached down, and picked him up, he purred, as she scratched his head, and she plopped him on her bed. He lay there watching, as she practiced her exercises.

When she was done forty five minutes later, his eyes followed her, as she left the room. He came bounding to her, when she shook his food bowl. He meowed up at her, and she laughed. "Ok, come on, I'll give you some chicken." She went into the kitchen, and he padded along silently behind her. She grabbed the chicken she had just put in the fridge, and tossed it into the microwave to warm it slightly, and then tossed it into his bowl. He began to eat, and she left him to his meal.

Beth looked at the clock; it was almost 11:30, if she wanted to be up by7:30, she needed to get to bed. She changed, and got into bed. As she pulled the covers up, Phantom jumped up, and lay down by her feet. She smiled, and scratched his head for a few minutes, then lay down, and went to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Ok, next one. Chapter 4 should be coming soon.

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Chapter 3

She was walking down an alley, it was dark, she couldn't see two feet in front of her. Something told her she had to keep walking, that if she didn't she would lose something important to her.

She kept going, then a sound came from up ahead, a half groan, half snarl, she walked faster. It came again, more of a groan this time, she began to run, that wasn't fast enough, she was sprinting, still not fast enough, but she couldn't move any faster. She was gasping for breath, her sides were aching, but she wouldn't stop, she _couldn't _stop.

Finally light shone up ahead, she could see. There was something there, hunched over, a human, no, a vampire. It was Mick; he was almost unrecognizable he was so badly burned. He was dying, she could sense it, his presence was fading even as she ran to him. He looked up as she appeared, his eyes were light blue, with dots for pupils, his canines were elongated, and he was extremely pale. He looked away, trying to prevent her seeing him.

"Mick!" She cried out at his state. "Mick, let me help you!"

"N-no!" His voice was hoarse, weak, but he still managed to sound firm. "Go away, I won't be-just go, I'm a monster, go before I lose control." Beth knelt down beside him, holding out her wrist.

"Here; Mick I know who you are, you saved me when I was five, you saved me, you're a vampire, and I don't care, you need blood to survive, I'm right here, take mine."

"Beth, I'm a monster, go before I kill you!"

"You're not a monster, and you won't kill me, I trust you."

"No." He turned away. Beth tried to make him turn back, but he refused. He was dying, and he would do nothing to save himself.

"Mick, Mick please, don't leave me alone!"

"You'll be safer when I'm gone." His voice was so quiet she could barely hear him. He fell completely to the ground, that last of his strength leaving him.

"No, Mick, Mick! MICK!" His eyes went back to their normal hazel, and his canines disappeared, he was dead. "No, NO, MICK, you can't leave me, you can't! MICK!" She shook him. She screamed his name again, shaking. "MICK!"

Beth woke up at the sound of her own scream. She sat up, looking wildly around, where was Mick, where was she, why wasn't she with him? A sound came from beside her. She looked down; it was Phantom he looked up at her, his golden eyes glowing in the darkness. She looked around again. She was at home, in her room, it had all been a dream. Beth started to cry, she buried her face into Phantom's fur. He didn't move, just let her sob. When she finally exhausted herself of tears, she got up, and looked at the clock. It was 6:30, she was never get to sleep after that dream.

Beth got up and went down into her basement. She headed strait over to her punching bag, she attacked it with a vengeance. An hour later, she was sweaty, in need of a shower, and she has worked off much of her negative energy. Most of it anyway, she wouldn't feel completely safe until she saw Mick completely safe, and unharmed.

She went to go upstairs, and saw Phantom watching her, a concerned look in his eyes. She picked him up, and scratched him, he purred, and relaxed, sensing she would be alright. She put him down, and went to take her shower, he followed her, and waited next to the shower and she was in it. When she went to get dressed, he followed her. Beth looked down at him, amused. He was in his 'follow Beth everywhere' mood, and nothing short of her leaving the house, or locking him in a room would stop him, but she wouldn't shut him in a room, he was always so depressed after, she would just have to deal with it until she left. And it's not like she minded, he didn't get in the way, he just wanted to be with her. She got dressed, made breakfast, and filled his bowl with some more chicken.

She grabbed her purse, put the extra lighter and silver knife in her pocket, then headed out. She called Maureen, and let her know she was coming in. "Beth, I need you to go to Kelly Foster's funeral, maybe you can find something else."

"Alright, I'm on my way, where is it?" Mo gave her the address, then hung up.

Beth headed over to the graveyard, and parked her car. She got out, and stood a good distance away. As some of the people congregated there, looked her way, she took pictures of them, making sure she got clear shots.

She looked around, there under a stand of trees, stood Mick. He was dressed in the black she had come to expect from him. She walked over, needing to assure herself that he was ok. "Thanks for ditching me last night."

"I knew you'd be alright, you're resourceful." Beth decided to take that as a compliment, and dropped the subject. "Listen I have some questions."

"Like?" He just looked at her.

"Where did you take the vial of blood?"

"Oh that, I have it in my car."

"Do you think you could get it?"

"Yeah, come on." He headed over to his car, dodging sunlight as he went. To anyone else it would look like he was crazy, but she knew better. He was a vampire, and while they don't burst into flames, the sunlight does hurt them.

He got in his car, and turned back, watching something. Beth turned to see what he was looking at, one of the girls had attacked one of the men, it seemed as if she had struck him in the throat with something sharp, Mick breathed in them smell. Recognition shone in his face, he knew the smell of that blood, from where, but she had no clue. He got into the car, and reached into the glove box, he pulled out the necklace, and handed it to her.

"I'll let you know if I find out who's blood it is." Mick nodded, then said. "It's the guy who got attacked, he's Kelly's professor."

"Oh, thanks." She stood back, and let him drive away, now she needed to get the vial to Carl, and convince him to let her see the results. She headed over to her car, feeling better now that she'd seen Mick.

She called Carl, and waited for him to pick up. "Hello?"

"Carl, it's Beth, I found something that I think you should have."

"What is it?"

"It's a vial of I think blood, I found it in Kelly Foster's apartment."

"Beth."

"What? You had left, and so I went in, and anyway, I found something for you, so you shouldn't be yelling at me."

"I wasn't yelling at you."

"Yet."

"True, ok, bring it in, and I'll have a look at it."

"Ok, I'll be there in about three minutes; I'm only a few blocks away."

"See you in a bit then." He hung up, and Beth pulled up to the police station a few minutes later. She headed up to Carl's office, and waited for him to arrive. The door opened, and she began to speak, but it wasn't Carl coming out, it was Josh.

"Um…hey." Beth wasn't sure what to say, she was still mad at him about last night, but she didn't want to start an argument.

"What are you doing here?"

Beth looked at him in surprise. "What, am I not allowed to come here?"

"No, I'm just wondering why."

"Well, I don't think it's any of your business, but I found something that I think Carl could use in the Kelly Foster Case."

"Oh, well, he's in there now, if you want to talk to him."

"Thank you." She stood up, and walked in the door he held open for her. She walked over to Carl's desk, and sensed Josh following her. She turned to look at him. "In private, if you please."

"I don't see any reason why I have to leave if it's involved in a case."

"I want this meeting in private that should be reason enough." Beth was firm, she didn't want to argue with him, but he was making it difficult to not lose her temper.

"Carl, I just-"

"Josh, I think you need to leave, Miss Turner has asked you to leave; now I'm ordering you to." His voice had a note of finality to it, and Josh left looking rather angry. Carl turned to Beth. "Now I know this isn't what you came here for, but what is your problem with Josh? You didn't mind him before."

"I came home last night, and found him making dinner for me. He asked me out a year ago, and told him no. I didn't invite him onto my home, and yet I go there, and find him cooking there. I just wasn't ready to deal with seeing him. I'm still angry, and I don't want to have an argument with him, but he was making that rather difficult."

Carl looked surprised. "He actually entered you house without your permission?"

"I think he thought I wanted to get to know him before I went on a date with him, or something like that."

"Oh, well, anyway. You said you had a vial filled with blood, right?"

"I think it's blood, I'm not sure, but that's what it looks like." She pulled the vial and necklace, and handed them to him. He opened an evidence bag, and put both in it. He sealed it, and set it on his tray.

"I'll take it down when they call me on some other things. Now, was there anything else?"

"Nope, that's all." She stood up, and walked to the door. She stopped her hand on the doorknob. "I don't want to strain things here, if me being here puts pressure on you because of Josh-"

"No it's fine."

"Ok, bye."

"Yeah, bye." Carl closed the door behind her, and Beth headed toward the doors that lead outside. Josh intercepted her just as she reached them, and put a hand on the door, preventing her from opening it.

"Look Josh, I know you're annoyed with me for turning you down again, but you're starting to get on my nerves." Beth tried to push him aside, but he refused to budge, she sighed, and decided it was easier to just let him speak than make him move out of the way.

"You are not going anywhere until I get an explanation. Why didn't you want me in the room with you and Carl?"

"I'm still angry with you about last night."

"And that's it, nothing else?"

"Yes, and no, there is nothing else, Josh where is this going?"

"Oh quit the innocent little girl act! Ok. Why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

"What truth?"

"That you're going out with Carl."

Beth stood there, shock racing through her. Josh thought she was going out with Carl? "What?! You think I'm going out with Carl?" Why?"

"Oh let's see, 'If my being around puts pressure on you because of Josh'…Sound familiar?"

"Yes, but all I meant was I could stay away from the station until things between you and me cooled down some. I'd call him for information, or have him send it to me on the phone. But I didn't say it because we were in a relationship."

"Oh of course, how silly of me to think that of you."

"Well weather you believe me or not, it's the truth, and at least I know that!" With that she grabbed his hand, and twisted. He jerked back, keeping out of her reach. Beth ignored him, and walked out the door, and headed over to her car. She got in, and drove off in the direction of Buzzwire.

She was still fuming when she arrived. She tossed her purse down on her desk, and flung herself into her chair with a growl of frustration. She started researching furiously, trying to find out as much as she could about Kelly's professor, and the girl who attacked him. She found that both Kelly, and the girl, Chloe Jones, had taken the class Mythological studies, taught by Christian Ellis, the man Chloe had attacked at the funeral.

Beth found Mick's number in the phone book, and called him. "Mick St. John."

"Hey Mick, it's Beth, I found out who the attacker was. I was Chloe Jones, she took Christian Ellis's Mythological Studies class the same time Kelly did."

"Ok, how about you talk to her, and I'll talk to the Professor."

"Works for me, I'll let you know what I find out."

"Ok, bye."

"Yeah, see ya." They both hung up, and Beth went into Mo's office. "Hey, I just got some information on the girl who attacked Kelly Foster's professor at the funeral."

"Well, what are you still doing here?"

"Leaving." Beth called from out in the hallway. She made sure she had her stakes, and lighter in her purse, then headed back out to her car.

Chloe worked at a diner downtown, she would start there. As she drove, she thought about her dream last night for the first time since seeing Mick. It had been rather unnerving. She hoped she would never have to witness it outside of her mind; it was bad enough in there.


	4. Chapter 4

Ok, once again, this is not mine, it belongs to CBS, unfortuantly. Thanks again to Evilous, she read it through and picked out a few mistakes. Here's the next chapter, and thanks to everyone who reviewed.

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Chapter 4

Beth entered the diner, and asked for Chloe Jones, a waitress called out in the back. "She'll be right out." Beth waited for Chloe to come out, when she did, Beth pointed to an empty booth, and they both sat down. Chloe spoke first. "So, what do you want?"

"I'm here to talk about Kelly Foster, did you know her?"

"Yeah, I was the one who told her she should take Mythological studies, and the study group.

"Study group?"

"It's a cult."

"It's a cult."

"What goes on there?"

"The usual clichés, rituals, chanting, blood drinking."

"They drink blood?"

"Oh yeah, the Professor is a spingalli something like that, he thinks he's a vampire."

Beth jerked her head up. "He thinks he's a what?"

"A vampire." Beth thought hard, why would a true vampire want people to know he was one, that would be not only dangerous, but suicidal. "What does he look like when he's a _vampire_?"

"Like a human." So he wasn't a real one, Beth remembered Mick, and the woman's eye's going pale, not to mention the teeth, well, they were more like fangs that teeth.

"You mean no fangs."

"Um, no."

"Then why does he think he's a vampire?"

"Something about prona, you don't know what that means do you?"

Beth smiled, and said. "It's a Hindu work meaning life force, am I correct?"

"Yes." Chloe looked slightly suspicious.

"I had to research some Hindu words in Global History; prona seemed to stick with me for some reason."

"Oh, ok. Well, anyway according to him, vampires have a pronic imbalance, so they need to find other place to get it, and they must then take it in, or something like that. And apparently fresh blood has a very high percent of it, so, that's about all I know."

"So why did you attack him?"

"He tricked me, Kelly, and a whole bunch of other girls."

"How?"

"He talked to us about vampires, sex, and dark desires, he said he could help us get the second two. We totally fell for his crap; he's got a lot of disciples."

"And you were one?"

"Yeah, I was in. He's really powerful, seductive, makes you feel special."

"And you weren't?"

"No, but Kelly still was, and so were some of the other girls. I got out as soon as I figured out what was going on, but I didn't kill her."

"Ok, I believe you." Chloe nodded, then stood up.

"Look, I have to get back to work, so…"

"Oh, yeah." Beth stood as well, and headed out the door. She got in her car, but didn't start it, she needed to talk to Mick, he needed to know that Christian thought he was a vampire.

She pulled out her phone, and called him.

"Hello, this is Mick St. John, I'm not here at the moment, so please leave a message after the beep, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can." Beep

"Hey, Mick it's Beth, I was-"

"Hey, I just got in, what is it?"

"I just finished talking to Chloe, and it was rather interesting, but there is some rather confusing things. Do you think I could meet you somewhere so I can tell you?"

"Um, why don't you come here, I'm not leaving any time soon."

"Ok, I'll head over, um, where do you live?"

"Oh, sorry." He gave her the address, and they both hung up. Beth drove over, and parked next to his Benz. She got in the elevator, and waited for it to reach his floor. She just going to knock when he opened the door.

"Come on it." He gestured for her to enter. Beth walked past him, looking around.

Something brushed her leg, she looked down. For a second she thought she saw Phantom, but then the cat looked up at her, and she saw blue eyes instead of gold, and the cat was slightly smaller that him, but still on the large side. She smiled, and knelt down, to let the cat smell her.

"Does she bight if you pick her up?"

"No, she loves it." Beth smiled again. "So does my cat, what's it's name?" Beth lifted the cat into her arms, and scratched it just as she did Phantom, right behind the ears. The cat began to pur.

"Her name is Midnight, yours?"

"Phantom, and he's even bigger that this one."

"I'm impressed, I thought no cat could be larger than her."

"Only slightly, and his eyes are gold, not blue."

"Color?"

Beth grinned. "Black." Mick gave a rare smile.

"Well, have a seat." Beth complied, sitting down on the sofa, Mick sitting across from her in a chair. She set Midnight down on the couch next to her, and kept petting her. "So what did you find out?"

"Christian Ellis thinks he is a vampire, so maybe someone is trying to-"

"Frame him?"

"Yeah."

"I had just got back from talking to him when you called. He told me basically nothing, except that he thought he was a vampire, that he had a relationship with some of his students, well that one I figured out, and that he wasn't a _traditional_ vampire, no fangs, or whatnot."

"Yeah, same here, so what do we do now?" Mick just looked at her, so she continued. "I was thinking about maybe going to one of his classes, and trying to actually meet him, as a student, you know. Maybe try and get into his study group."

"Beth, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"I just don't."

"Well, I'm going to anyway, so deal with it."

"Well, I still don't like it."

"Ok, I'll say it again, deal with it."

"Ok, how about we compromise, you go to the class, and if you get into the study group, I stay close by. Apparently it's in the basement of Chanler Hall. Mrs. Ellis told me that."

"Ok, alright."

"Ok, so when do you plan to do this?"

"How about tomorrow? I can get a mike from Buzzwire, so we can tape it, and I'll let them know what I'm doing so they know where I am, and not to call me."

"Ok, so where do you want me to meet you?"

"How about here, in case one of us comes up with something,." Her phone rang, and she checked to see who it was, Carl. "Hold on." She said to Mick, then answered the call. "Hey so what did you find out?"

"It was the Professor's blood."

"You have his DNA on file?"

"Hey, he offered when we first interviewed him."

"Cooperative."

"Yeah, that's what they always want you to think."

"Ok, well thanks Carl."

"Yup."

Beth turned to Mick. "You must have a contact at the DA's office, I just found out that the blood sample is the Professor's"

"No actually I don't have one, but obviously you do." Mick had a slight smirk on his face.

"Ok, so I'll see you tomorrow. What time?"

"Um, how about 12:00, I think I remember hearing his class starts at 1:30, so that should give us enough time to get everything ready."

"Ok, I'll see you then." Beth headed out, giving Midnight a scratch as she went.


	5. Chapter 5

Ok, once again not mine (darn). Thanks to Evilous, she looked it over, and found some oopses, and helped me fix them. Bonus points if anyone can figure out where I got Beth's cat's name from, not to mention the eyes.

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Chapter 5

Beth woke up, and stretched. She lay there for several minutes. Just trying to figure things out. What was going on? Why couldn't she tell Mick she knew what he was? She had planned on telling him last night when she got to his flat, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't tell him. Somehow she knew he wouldn't react well.

The dream she'd had the night before had really left an impression on her. It brought back memories she had half forgotten, memories of something Mick had said as he took her home. She had been half asleep, and had asked him who the woman was.

Mick had answered as though not realizing he was. "She was someone I knew before, and a monster…like me." He had said nothing more, and she hadn't remembered. But now she did, and it made her realize how Mick thought of himself. He thought he was a monster. How he could think that after all he had done for her was beyond Beth's comprehension. She would have to ease into it, or he would have to tell her, but as that was very unlikely to happen, Beth would have to get him to realize she wouldn't leave before she told him. Maybe she could find one of his friends who was also a vampire to help her.

Deciding to think about it later Beth got up, and got ready for work. After making sure she had everything she needed, she headed to Buzzwire.

She parked in her usual spot, and saw Mo pull in. "Mo, hold on." She turned to look at her. "Do you think I could have today off, well kinda? I'm attending Christian Ellis's class, he was Kelly Forster's Mythological Studies Teacher."

"Oh, seeing as it's for a story, I guess you can go. Do you think he might be the killer?"

"Maybe, or he could at least give me some more suspects."

"Alright, call and let me know if you find anything."

"You want me to leave now?"

"Girl, you are not going to pass as a college student wearing that. Get home and change into some teenage girl clothes." She made a shooing motion with her hands, then headed into the building.

Beth got back in her car, drove back home, and went strait to her closet. She searched, jeans would work, now what about a shirt? Finally she found a light gray sweater with a hood, and buried in the back was a maroon hat, with HC on the front. Perfect.

She looked at the clock, it was only 9, she still had hours before she had to be at Mick's, but she had nothing else to do. She should call him first though, to make sure he was out of his freezer, it would not be good for her to show up, and find him with fangs, and frost all over him.

She hit speed dial, and waited to see if he would pick up. "Hi.' He sounded groggy; he must have just gotten out of his freezer. Dang, she was hoping to not wake him.

"Mick, it's Beth, um did I wake you?"

"No."

"You're lying."

"Ok, yeah I am, but I was going to be up in a half an hour anyway, so no harm done. What's going on?"

"Um, do you think I could come a little early, I have absolutely nothing to do for the next three hours, Maureen let me off early to let me change into college attire, or as she put it, 'teenage girl clothes'. Well, I've done that, so now I'm bored, and I figured I might as well get something done."

"Sure, it's fine, how soon will you be here?"

"Um, about 15 minutes."

"Ok, sounds good. See you then."

"Sorry I woke you up."

"Like I said it's fine, bye."

"Yeah, bye." He hung up, and Beth put her phone away. She changed, scratched Phantom, then left. She made sure to drive slow, so as to give Mick enough time to have his house 'human proof'. She pulled in, and went up to his floor. She knocked, and heard. "Come in." From the other side.

She opened the door, and was immediately attacked by a ball of fur. Well, not with claws, or teeth, Midnight just bounded up to her, demanding attention. Beth picked her up, and Mick chuckled. "Well, she obviously likes you. Normally she runs the other way when I have company. Midnight butted her head against Beth's, Beth obediently scratched her head.

"So, what did you want to come over for?"

"Well, I was thinking, how would I get into the study group?"

"I suppose you could stay after class, and flatter him." Beth raised her eyebrows. "You could tell him you've read his book."

"Um, but I haven't, and what book?"

"Well, he used to publish every year, but I think the best one for you to have read would be 'The Mythology of Darkness'."

"You have one of his books."

"I went to the library, and checked it out."

"Oh, ok, so you think I should read it?"

"It can't be a bad thing, here I'll go and get it." He walked over to his desk, and pulled out a book from one of the drawers. "Here, if you want to have a look, go ahead."

"You don't mind if I read while I'm here do you?"

"There's no point in you leaving, then coming back in two hours."

"Ok." She took the book, set Midnight down on the sofa, and sat down next to her, and opened it to the first chapter.

As she read, she felt Mick watching her, every time she looked up, he quickly looked back down, but as soon as she went back to reading, he looked back up. Beth felt her heart pick up slightly, but didn't try to slow it back down, she didn't mind if he heard it this time.

Two hours later, Beth put the finished book down, stood up, and stretched. She smirked slightly as she saw him look up, and not look right back down. She handed him the book, and he put it back in the drawer.

"So, how was it?"

"Rather dry."

"Yeah, I thought so too."

"So, how soon do I have to be at the college?"

"In about an hour."

"Ok, so do you know where his class is?"

"Nope, but I'm sure you can ask someone where it is. Just tell them you transferred from a different school."

"Yeah, that could work. Ok, so I go there, I find his class, and then stay after, and talk to him about his book, that good?"

"Yeah, when you're talking to him, if you think of something else to say, go ahead, you don't have to have it all planned out before hand.

"So, got that figured out, now what do I do for the next hour?"

"Um, I guess you could-"

"I know, let's play twenty questions, I ask you one, and you ask me one."

He hesitated, but gave it. "Al right, but on one condition, only ten questions each." That was as good as I was going to get with him now.

"Fair enough, you go first."

"Ok, so tell me, the most exciting moment of your life."

"Exciting good, or bad?"

"Either, whichever was more so." Mick looked slightly wary, did he think it would make her remember him, did he want that? No, it wouldn't make any sense to tell her before she knew he was a vampire, it wouldn't make any sense otherwise.

"Ok, the bad one was more. I was kidnapped when I was five, I had been taken by a woman, I don't remember her much, but I do remember the room she kept me in. Then suddenly she took me to some place, and we stayed there for, I forget how long. Then someone came in, a man. He seemed to know her, then they fought, like with teeth, and nails, they banged things over each other, and threw them against the walls. After a while the man came over to me, I couldn't see his face, or if I could, I've blocked it out. He held out his hand, and then he took me home."

"Um, I didn't-" He stopped, and Beth allowed him to, sensing that he didn't want to lie to her, but didn't want to give anything away.

"It's ok, you didn't know." He looked away at that, but Beth thinking of a question to ask him, paid no attention. "Ok, what is the most serious relationship you have ever been in?" Mick looked slightly uncomfortable at that question.

"I was married once, but it didn't end well."

"Why?"

"She lied to me about wha-who she was. And we had a falling out." Beth heard his almost slip-up, if he had completed the word she was sure it would have been 'what'. Had she been a vampire, and if she had, how had Mick not known?

"What do you mean, falling out?"

"Well, I hadn't seen her for years, and the last time I did she died soon after."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Mick looked at her gravely. "Trust me, you're not."

"How did she die?"

"She died in a fire." Beth gasped, unable to contain her surprise.

"How awful." She tried to pretend she had just been horrified by the way she had died, and not by what she had realized. She had never known exactly who had taken her, only that Mick had known her somehow, now she knew how. She had been his wife. From the ferocity of their fight, Mick had not liked her much by the time he had kidnapped her though.

"Ok, so what about you?"

"Same question?"

"Yeah."

"Um…none." Mick raised his eyebrows. "I'm serious; I've never had an actual relationship. I tried dating in late high school, but never got into it, so I stopped. I don't think my trust issues helped much either." Mick looked thoughtful for a second, then looked back up at her, waiting for the next question.

"Ok, how old are you?"

"I'm thirty." That's how old he must have been when he was turned, so he had to be at least, fifty something years old. "You?"

"You know it's not polite to ask women their age, but since we're playing I guess I can tell you, I'm twenty seven. Ok, um who is your best friend?"

"Now?"

"Yeah."

"Um, I would have to say, and don't laugh, it's the truth, Josef Konstantin." Beth blinked; Josef Konstantin was a huge Bonds Dealer, and some people called him eccentric. He was rather high on the social ladder, so how did Mick know him?

"You're kidding. You know Josef Konstantin?"

"Yeah, don't ask me how." Now she had to ask him.

"How?" Mick raised an eyebrow.

"If you must know my ex-wife introduced us." Realization hit Beth. Josef wasn't eccentric, he was a vampire. Beth nodded slightly. Mick continued. "So, who's yours?"

"Um, well, that's a hard question; I would have to say My Guardian Angel."

"Huh?"

"That's what I called the man who rescued me. I've never been able to get close to anyone after the kidnapping." Though not because she was kidnapped, it was because she knew what was out there, and felt she had to prepare for it, and no one else had understood her need to feel safe, or able to protect herself. "So, I've kept a diary, I would always write to him in it. He was my closest friend, even if he wasn't there in person. When they were full, I gave them to my mom, and she said she would send them to him. A week later I would get almost a book typed back. He seemed to really care about what I thought." Beth watched Mick carefully, he seemed almost shocked. Now why would that be?

Beth looked up at the clock. It was almost 12:30. "Well, I should head over to the college; I don't want to be late for my first class now do I?"

"No I suppose not." He stood up, and offered a hand to help her up, she took it, and felt a tingle run up her arm. Midnight stood up, stretched, and jumped down. She padded over to them, and meowed up at Beth. She bent down, and picked her up, scratched her for several seconds, then handed her to Mick.

"Well, I'll call you if I get into the study group."

"Ok, see you later?"

"Yeah, we haven't finished out game yet." She grinned, then left. Mick shut the door behind her, stood there for several seconds, plopped Midnight on the couch, and walked into his office.

* * *

Ok, there you go, next update should be out next weekend, this week is rather hectic, so I won't get mush time to write. But I will have one ready by at least Sunday. 


	6. Chapter 6

Ok, here it is, it came a lot faster than I expected, the pbs just kept coming, I almost couldn't write fast enough. Well, once again not mine, and thanks to Evilous, she founs the mess ups, and told me, again.

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Chapter 6 

Beth drove slowly to the college, thinking over what she had learned. Mick had killed his wife to save her. Why? He said she had lied to him about what she was, but why would that-Beth's eyes widened as a thought crossed her mind. What if he hadn't been a vampire before he had married her? Could that be why he hated her, could she have turned him without his consent? She must have, as he probably wouldn't have chosen to be a vampire on his own, he obviously hated it now.

The college was in sight, now she just had to find the class. She pulled into a parking place, then walked into the school, after grabbing a notebook she had grabbed.

She walked around, finally finding the library. She walked in, and over to one of the students sitting at one of the tables. "Hey, um I just transferred, I'm in Professor Ellis's class, and I seem to have gotten lost, do you know where I am supposed to go?"

"You mean his Mythological Studies class, right?"

"Yeah, that's it?"

"Sure, I took that class last year, and apparently he's in the same room this year."

"Could you just point me in the right direction?"

"Why don't I show you, I'm going by there myself." The girl packed up her things, then motioned for Beth to follow her. Beth watched curiously as she skirted some rather packed hallways, and went down less crowded ones. Five minutes later, she stopped in front of a classroom.

"This is where you need to be." Beth looked at her watch, it was 12:45, she still had a few minutes.

"Um, do you think you can show me some other rooms, like the cafeteria, or study halls?"

"Sure, I don't have to be in class until 1:15, so I have time."

"Thanks, I'll just set my things down, and then you can tell me where everything is." She set her notebook on a desk at the back of the room, then went back out to the girl. "Um, ok, my name is Kate Nelson, you?"

"Natasha Konstantin." Beth's eyes widened. "Any relation to Josef Konstantin?"

"Yeah, he's my brother, why?"

"I've just heard of him around LA." Beth walked down the hallway, then out into the courtyard. "Hey, come on, aren't you supposed to be showing me the around?"

"Um, can we not go that way?"

"Why?" Beth had to find out if she was a vampire or not.

"My skin is very sensitive." Yup, she was a vampire alright. Beth walked back to her.

"Ok, look I haven't been exactly truthful with you, my name is not Kate, and I haven't just heard of you're brother around town. I'm a friend of Mick's. He's the one I've heard about Josef from."

"St. John?"

"Yeah, I'm helping him with a case, and Christian Ellis seems to be involved."

"The girl who was found dead, I saw the report on Buzz-hey, you're Beth Turner, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Well, now that we've got that cleared up, do I have to take you to the cafeteria?"

"No, that was just to talk to you some more."

"Oh, well, what do you want to talk about?"

"I need you're help."

"Um, with what?" Natasha looked curious.

Beth knew she was taking a big risk with this, but she needed to tell someone. She walked into an unused classroom, and called for Natasha to follow her. "Come in here, but I recommend you stand on the other side of the room, I don't want to hurt you." Natasha raised an eyebrow, but did as Beth asked. Beth grabbed the silver knife out of her pocket, and showed it to her. Natasha looked at it, and Beth held it up to the light, she took it from her; then dropped it with a gasp of pain. Beth made no move to pick it up, and Natasha looked up at Beth, her eyes wide.

"What-I don't understand?"

"I know what you are, I know what Mick is, I've known since he saved me when I was five, I don't want to hurt any of you, at least none that are friends of Mick, Coraline however would be a different story were she alive."

"You're the one he saved, aren't you?" Beth nodded.

"He doesn't know that I know all of this, please don't tell him."

"Why shouldn't I?" She glared at Beth with suspicion.

"Because I mean no harm, I know exactly how to kill a vampire, and I also know how to save one. I know what hurts you, the few things that do, and I just want to be able to thank him, without him running away from me."

"What do you mean?"

"Mick thinks of himself as a monster, you know that right?"

"Yeah, he's always hated what he is, ever since Coraline turned him."

"If he knows that I know I'll never see him again."

"What if you're just trying to get close to him, and then kill him?"

"Then why am I telling you all of this?" Natasha had no answer to that.

"Alright, I'll trust you for now, but if you hurt Mick, I will hunt you down, and kill you if it's the last thing I do."

"If I hurt him, you might not get the chance." Beth said quietly.

"Why not?"

"Because, I might just do it myself." Her eyes widened, but she gave no other sign she was surprised by Beth's answer. "He's my Guardian Angel; I couldn't hurt him any easier that I could hurt myself." Beth walked forward picked up the knife, and placed it back in her pocket, then turned around, and walked back into the classroom. She knew that Natasha could kill her in a second while her back was turned, but felt she had to do it, to show that she wasn't afraid.

There were some other people in the room now, and Beth saw the professor up in the front, she sat down, and opened her notebook, preparing to take notes on anything she thought would be good to remember, if there was anything. From the way this class looked she doubted it. Slowly more people drifted in.

Finally it seemed that no one else was going to come in, and the professor started talking. Beth listened, making sure to look interested, and to write things down, even if they had nothing to do with the class, just to make it seem as if she was paying attention. Finally he started talking about something slightly more interesting.

"We have all fed on blood, every one of you in this room; everyone on this earth, in the womb, our first meal is blood. We feed in darkness, there is no time, there's no life, there's no death; it is a perfect world. Seemingly everlasting, until, we are ripped from the womb into daylight. When we are born, that paradise is lost, and we spend the rest of our days trying to find our way back, back to that perfect world, of blood and darkness. She shook her head slightly, amazed, and somewhat amused that people actually believed him. "That's enough for tonight, but remember, that this truth with you to your everyday lives, we are all vampires, every last one of us."

Everyone stood up, and began to make their way toward the door, but Beth worked her way through them, up to the front of the class. "I will see you all next week." She eventually made her way to stand in front of him.

Pasting a grin on her face, she spoke up. "That was an amazing lecture."

"Thank you." He continued placing his books in his bag. She held out her hand.

"I'm Kate Nelson; I just transferred down from Berkley." He shook her hand.

"Welcome."

"I read your book, The Mythology of Darkness."

"Well, that's more than I can say for a lot of my students." He started to walk slowly toward the door.

"I think it's really interesting, the vampire as metaphor for desire."

"The thirst for blood is symbolic of a deeper hunger." Beth recognized the saying from the book, and finished it for him.

"A hunger to connect." He stopped, and looked down at her.

"You did read my book, huh?"

"Do you think I could audit your class?"

"Well, my lectures are pretty popular, but I'm sure we can squeeze you in."

"Thanks, I really appreciate it. I know I'm a month behind, is there a syllabus I could get started on, or someway to catch me up?" He looked at her thoughtfully for a second.

Well, I do a study group, for some of my more motivated students."

"I'm really motivated."

Christian looked back into the classroom. "Daniel." A young man came walking out. "This is Daniel, my TA, Daniel this is Kate-"

"Nelson." Beth supplied.

"Kate Nelson, I'm sorry." He addressed Daniel. "Would you take down her information?"

"Sure." He turned back to Beth.

"I have to get going." He walked away, and Daniel came up.

"Hi, study group huh?"

"Sounds intriguing."

"So how do we get a hold of you?"

"310-" She gave him her cell number, and then left, trying to find Natasha. She couldn't find her anywhere, and she finally tried the library again. There she was, sitting at the same table as before.

"Hey." She looked up, and looked surprised to see Beth standing there. "Um, look I was just-"

"Just making sure I wasn't going to tell anyone?" Beth shook her head.

"No, I was making sure you aren't angry at me for lying to you." Natasha looked shocked.

"You can't go asking strangers if they're vampires or not, and how do you know you can trust them? If you had told an actual student what you were up to, you would have been tossed out as soon as you told them. I'm grateful that you told me you knew-" Beth interrupted her.

"Um, should we be talking about this in plain sight?" Natasha looked around.

"No, probably not, Josef would have my hide if he found out I did that. Come on, I'll take you somewhere we can talk, or do you have some place we can go?"

"Do you have to stay here?"

"No, I was going to take you off campus anyway."

"How about my house?" Natasha looked wary for a moment, but then nodded.

"That will be fine."

"I'll give you the direction, and meet you there?"

"Yeah, who knows how far apart our cars are." Beth gave her directions, then headed out toward her car. She drove home, hoping to make it there before Natasha did, so as to make sure nothing was out of place; she did not want to seem like a slayer to her.

She pulled in, and saw that there were no cars around, but that didn't mean much, vampires could walk, or run extremely fast.

She unlocked the door, and Phantom streaked toward her, she lifted him up into her arms, and she stroked him, he purred, then jumped down, and went into the kitchen, obviously waiting for his dinner. Beth gave him his cat food, and went back out into the living room, and made sure she had nothing bad out in plain sight.

A car pulled up, Natasha was here. Beth hurried to the door, and let her in when she approached. "Hey." Natasha just nodded, and walked in.

Beth headed into the kitchen, as that was where her table was, and sat down. As Natasha came in however, Phantom went crazy, he tried to attack her, Beth grabbed him, and pulled him back. "Just hold out your hand, and let him scratch you." She did as Beth said, and Phantom calmed right down.

"How did you know that would help?"

"It shows them that you wont attack them if they hurt you, I don't really understand it, but I found it on several sites online, and have gotten pretty good at judging what is fact, and what is myth. I felt that it couldn't hurt to see if this one was as well." She set Phantom down, and he walked over to her slowly, he sniffed her leg, the walked over to sit under Beth's chair.

"Ok, you've proved both me and Josef wrong."

"How?"

"By having a cat larger than-"

"Midnight?"

"Yeah, how did-"

"Mick mentioned it when I said that Phantom was a bit larger."

"Well, as I was saying before, I would like to thank you for letting me know you know about us. Not many humans will do that without trying to kill us at least once. But, you warned me to stay back, and you didn't rush to pick up the knife when I dropped it. Then you turned around, and presented you back to me, a perfect time for me to attack, and well, let's just say that the last humans who have found out what I am, have not been that calm, they've looked at me like I'm a monster." She paused, then continued. "And they're probably right."

"No! Neither you nor Mick is a monster!"

"How did you know Mick thinks of himself as a monster?"

"He told me when he rescued me, not so plainly, but he said that the woman, Coraline, was a monster, like him; and you told me before the class."

"Well, it's the truth." Beth gave up trying to convince her, and went back to the subject. Ok, so what do you-" Natasha's phone rang.

"Sorry, hold on. Hello." She paused, then spoke. "Ok, I'll be there in a minute. Bye." She put her phone away. "That was Josef, I have to get home, maybe we can talk some other time?" She looked unsure if this idea would be taken well.

"Oh sure, how about tomorrow, at around seven at night?"

"Ok, um where?"

"Here again?"

"Ok." She smirked slightly. "You are defiantly going to give Mick a run for his money."

"Why do you say that?"

"No reason, well, I have to go, Josef does not like to be kept waiting." She stood up, giving Phantom a quick pat, she tried to scratch his head, but he left before she got a chance.

"He'll get used to you, don't worry." Natasha nodded, then headed out the door. Beth watched her pull away, then grabbed her things, and headed for Buzzwire.

* * *

Ok, don't know when the next update will be, but it should be within a week. Has anyone figured out where I got Phantom's name from yet? I'll give you a hint. His name is in the title. Evilous you can't answer this, as you already know, sorry. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it means a lot. 


	7. Chapter 7

Ok, here it is, thanks to Evilous, she helped me to decide on the ending, and found some mess ups.

Once again, not mine, it all belongs to CBS. (it sucks)

* * *

Chapter 7

Beth thought about Natasha, she didn't seem to be willing to trust her completely, Beth knew that would come with time, but neither did she seem to want to rip her head off for knowing what she was. All in all it had been a very enlightening day. She had found out Josef Konstantin was a vampire, that he had a sister, who was also a vampire. Said sister now knew she knew about Vampires, and didn't kill her on the spot. The woman who had kidnapped her as a child had been her rescuer's wife, well, ex-wife. Beth shook her head, her life was confusing, and hectic, but she wouldn't have it any other way, it would be to boring then.

When she arrived at Buzzwire, her thoughts were still whirling. She put a stop to them, she had to focus. She walked in, strait to Mo's office, and knocked.

"Come in." As Beth entered, Mo looked up from the paperwork she was looking over. "Now that's more like it." She said nodding at her outfit. "So what did you find out?"

"Not much, but I did manage to get an invite to the study group, so if the TA calls I'll have to leave perhaps right away. I don't know when, or where it will be so I thought I'd warn you."

"Well, might I suggest you take someone with you, have them wait for you to come out, maybe Steve could-"

"Oh, I already have someone to do that, he offered, well, more like I told him what I was planning to do, and he told me he was going to tag along, and stay around until it was done."

Mo looked interested. "Oh, was it that cute DA contact you have? Josh I think his name was?"

Beth shook her head, her eyes hardening slightly. "No, nor will it ever be him." Mo raised an eyebrow, but wisely said nothing.

"Well, then who is it?"

Mick St. John."

"I don't think I've heard of him."

"He's a PI I met recently at the Kelly Foster crime scene, and he's also working on the case."

"Ah, so you get protection, and get's help with the case, a win-win situation. So how about you go home and wait for this TA to call, we don't want you on camera when he calls now do we?"

"No, I suppose not, I'll see you tomorrow, then?"

"Yeah." Mo went back to her paperwork, and Beth headed back home again. She had almost gotten home, when her phone rang. She answered it.

"Hello?"

"Um, Kate?" It was the TA.

"Yeah, it's me."

"Ok, it's Daniel, the study group is at Chanler Hall, at 11:00, you got that?"

"11:00 at Chanler Hall, yup got it, where in Chanler Hall?"

"Just meet me in the front; I'll get you where you need to go from there."

"Thanks, see you then?"

"Yeah, bye." He hung up. Beth looked at the time, it was 2:40, she had a little over eight hours before she needed to kill, and she should probably take a nap. She would call Mick when she woke up later; there was plenty of time to let him know what was going on.

She should call Natasha though, otherwise she would show up while she was still asleep, but how was she to do that without her number. She decided to try online, when she got home and see if it had her number listed.

She parked, and went to her computer, typed in her name, and waited, sure enough, it had several numbers next to her place of residence. Beth tried the first one, no answer. She tried the next one.

"Hello?"

"Natasha?"

"Yes, may I ask who's calling?"

"It's Beth."

"Oh, hi, uh, how did you get this number?"

"I googled you name, and a couple numbers popped up, this was the second one."

"Oh, ok, um what did you need?"

"I need to request a rain check for tonight, I'm talking a nap."

"Oh."

"The TA called, and the study group is meeting at 11:00, and I have no clue how long it is going to last, and I'm not like you, you're more the type to go wandering around at night."

"Ha, ha very funny. I guess I'll talk to you tomorrow then?"

"Yeah, I'll let you know when I'm free, I'm surprised I caught you, I was sure you would be asleep."

"Ah, well, _I_ don't need much sleep, I'm like my brother that way, and his friend, Mick I think his name is, none of us need a lot of sleep."

"Ah, I understand." So vampires didn't need much sleep, that was food for thought.

"Well, I'll let you get to you're nap, bye."

"Yeah see you."

Beth closed the window that had Natasha's numbers on it, and went to bed, not wanting to risk being distracted by something else, and set her alarm for 7:30, that should be a long enough nap to keep her refreshed for however long this 'study group' went to. Phantom jumped up next to her, and curled up near her feet. After about tem minutes of just laying there, she fell asleep.

Beep, Beep, Beep.

Beep, Beep, Beep.

Beep, Beep, Beep. That was really starting to get annoying.

Beep, Beep, Beep. Beth opened her eyes, and realized it was her alarm.

Beep, Beep, Be-. Beth banged the top of it, and it stopped. She got out of bed, changed, and went into the kitchen for something to eat. She decided on a bowl of cereal, not wanting the hassle of making anything large.

When she was done, she grabbed her phone, and called Mick.

"Hello, this is Mick St. John-"

"Mick, it's Beth."

"Oh, hey, so did you get in?"

"Yeah, it's set for eleven tonight, at Chanler Hall."

"Uhh."

"What?"

"I'm meeting Chloe at the dinner at 11:00, after you left I decided I needed to talk to her."

"If you're not there it'll be fine." She would just have one thing less to look forward to.

"No, I'll just get there a little late, around 11:15 or so."

"Ok, if I need anything, like they find me out, I'll call you."

"How are you going to manage dialing the number with them at least watching your every move?"

"I have you on speed dial, so I'll only have to push two buttons, it shouldn't be that hard to do."

"Ok, I'll see you-when is this done?"

"I don't know, if you're still there at like twelve, you can leave if you want."

"No, I'll stay, I don't need much sleep, and I don't have to be at work at any particular time."

"Ok, I'll see you, well, tomorrow, I guess."

He chuckled slightly. "Yeah, see you, uh, and Beth?"

"Yeah?"

"Be careful, don't let the professor get you alone, ok?"

"Yeah, I'll be careful."

"Ok, bye."

"Bye." Beth put her phone back in her pocket, grabbed her purse, and headed into her bedroom.

Ok she had the two knives, the normal one, and the silver one, the three stakes, and two lighters. She put two of the stakes away, and left the last one in her purse. She pulled out a larger knife, the blade was almost five inches long, but still safe for her to carry around, because it was basically a pocket knife, just a very large one. She grabbed it, and tossed it into her purse.

She replaced the pillow, and the floor board, then sat down on her bed. She just sat there for several minutes, then looked up at the clock. It was eight; she had enough time to practice some defense.

She changed into her work-out clothes, and went down into the basement. She spent the next hour and a half attacking the punching bag, along with racing back and forth across the length of the room. Finally, sweaty, and nicely refreshed, she went back upstairs, took a shower, rechanged, and ate an actual diner.

She grabbed everything, and headed back to Buzzwire. When she arrived, she went searching for Steve. She found him in the equipment room. "Hey, Steve."

"Beth?"

"Yeah, it's me. Do you have a mike I can borrow?"

"Oh, yeah, come on over here, I'll get one out for you. What do you want it connected to?"

"Just a small recording that I can fit in my purse pocket."

"Ok, how about this?" He held up a small device about the size of a miniature pack of cards.

"Perfect."

"Ok, do you want me to put it on, or can you do it?"

"I'll do it." She took the mike, and put it on underneath the jacket she had on, so as to keep it hidden. "How does it look?" She asked.

"If I hadn't seen you put it on just now, I wouldn't even know it was there. The only way someone will know it is there is if you take off you're jacket, and I don't think you're dim enough to do that." Beth smirked.

"Well, you never know…" She trailed of suggestively, and he blinked at her, she burst out laughing. "I'm kidding; I just wanted to see you're face."

"Ha, ha, very funny." He handed her the recording device, she took it, and put it in her purse.

Beth left, chuckling slightly as she went.

She pulled out of the Buzzwire parking lot, and took off for Chanler Hall. She arrived several minutes early, got out, and walked to the front of the building.

Daniel walked up to her. "Hey, come on, the entrance is around back. Beth followed him around to the back to the building, through a door, and down a flight of stairs.

"Where are we going exactly?"

"Don't worry; it's all part of the ritual."

"Ritual, I thought it was a study group." Yeah, study group, sure.

"Yeah, you'll see." They rounded a bend, and Beth looked around. "Seriously, the ritual's in a boiler room?" They kept walking, and finally, Beth began to hear voices coming from up ahead.

"…most important to us, is the spirit of these texts, not the letter." Christian, was holding a book, and talking to several girls gathered around. "Hi Kate." He turned back to the girls. "So the ancient tantric practice of using sexual intercourse to transform one's sexual energy into blissful consciousness, speaks to that issue perfectly." How could they believe this stuff? "Well, I think that's enough for tonight. I will see you all next week." They all stood, and clasped hands, and spoke as one.

"Blood is life, and life is blood; born into light, we seek the dark."

"Thank you." The girls gathered their things, and began to file out. Christian walked over to Beth. "Kate, I'm so glad you could make it."

"Seems like I missed it, I thought I was supposed to be here at eleven." Why was everyone leaving, did the professor know who she really was?

"Well, this is your first session, and I like to get a little one on one time with my students."

She nodded. "Ok."

"So let's go back and talk, don't be shy." He led her over to sit on the couch, and sat in front of her. Now she wished she had allowed Mick to cancel his appointment with Chloe, this wasn't what she had expected.

He held out his hands in front of her, she hesitated, not sure what to do. "Hold out your hands above mine." She did as he asked. "Right above mine, just like that. We are only now discovering what the ancients knew; that we are simply energy, we both radiate, and absorb it. Concentrate on your hands." He paused for a moment, then continued. "Do you feel that?"

Feel what? She wanted to ask, instead she said. "Um, maybe."

"It takes a little practice, close your eyes, and concentrate, feel your yearnic energy balancing mine, if we do this long enough, out heart will synchronize." He place his hand on her chest, and did the same with hers.

"Are you kidding me, this actually works for you?"

"What do you have under there?" Beth almost panicked, did he feel the mike?

"Huh?"

"What do you have under there?" Beth pulled her hand back, and tried to shove his away.

"Get you're hands off me." He pushed her down into the cushions, and pinned her there. "Get off!" She tried to push him away, but she didn't have enough leverage. He pulled at her jacket, and saw the mike.

"You're recording this, who are you, answer me!" She struggled harder, trying to get away. "Where's the recording?" He began searching through her bag. "Give it to me." She aimed a kick to his side, and struck, hard. He cried out, and fell off her.

She raced out the room, up the stairs, and out into the open. The cold air hit her, and she realized her shirt was completely undone. Daniel was there wait, why was he there?

"Kate, hey Kate! You alright, what happened?" He must know what was going on, or was somehow involved. She wasn't taking any chances; she turned, and ran the other way, pulling out the knife as she did so. "Shit!" She heard him running after her, and sped up, allowing the blade to come out of it covering.

She rounded the corner, ran about twenty feet, then turned around, and stood there, slightly hunched over, like she was in pain, and waited. She didn't have long, Daniel came racing around the corner, and stopped when he saw her, she saw the needle, just before he hid it. He walked up to her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" When he got within three feet of her, she lunged at him, pinning the hand she had seen the needle in down, and held the knife to his throat. "Hey, what the-"

"Shut up! I'm not going to let you kill me like you did Kelly, it was you wasn't it, not the professor?!" he didn't say anything, but started to struggle. Beth pressed the knife closer into his throat, almost drawing blood. "If you move, I will kill you." He stopped, perhaps because of the steel-like sound in her voice, or he realized she wasn't afraid to actually do it.

She moved slightly, trying to get feeling back into her leg. He shoved hard at her, she fell back, and the air rushed out of her lungs as she hit the ground. She lay there,, stunned for a second, then reality came rushing back as she saw him jab her with the needle, she fought, and pushed him away. She felt slightly weak, but saw that he had not used all of the serum in the vial. She grabbed the knife, and stabbed out with it, she heard him cry out in pain, as she struck him in the thigh, she pulled it out, and pushed him to the ground, prepared to run, but he grabbed her arm, and she fell with him, she felt the needle, and the world began to go black.

She fought to remain conscious; she managed, but couldn't muster the strength to move. She felt him pull the knife out of her hand, no, she needed that.

"Beth!" She saw Mick rushing forward at vamp speed. No, the knife was silver, it would hurt him.

"Mick!" She gasped. "No! Be careful!" She couldn't get the words out, she couldn't warn him! She would have to hope he found out what the knife was made of before it was too late. His face was the last thing she was before she lost consciousness.

* * *

Ok there you go. I've already started on the nest update. So how's everyone going with Phantom's name? I give you another hint, it's from a movie. 


	8. Chapter 8

A very large thank you to RobinxHoodxFan09 who noticed that I had said by accident that Beth was kidnapped when she was four. That is now corrected, and it says she is five.

* * *

Chapter 8

There was something soft underneath her, like a blanket. Why did she feel as though something was wrong, something she should have stopped?

Suddenly memories of the night flooded her mind. The professor-running away-Daniel trying to kill her-him taking the knife from her-Mick running up-trying to tell him about the knife being silver, but not able to. She sat bolt upright, was Mick alright? Where was she?

She looked around, she was at Mick's, it was light out now, and there he was, walking towards her, looking fine.

"It's alright you're with me."

"You saved me." She was half talking about last night, half about when she was a child.

"From a graduate student in Mythological Studies, didn't exactly take Super Man." He sat down next to her.

"He stabbed you." The knife, where was it?

"He sure tried."

"But how-"

"Beth, calm down, you're safe."

"Where's the knife?" Mick looked uncomfortable.

"It's on the table." He nodded towards the island in the kitchen, Beth stood up, and went to get it. "I'm not sure that's a good idea, it's pretty sharp."

"I know." Mick looked confused.

"How?"

Beth knew this could be a bad thing to say, but she needed this back. "Because I sharpened it yesterday." Mick stiffened.

"Why do you have it?"

"I was kidnapped when I was five, and I've felt the need to protect myself, that's one of the knives I have, there's another one in my purse."

"But why one made from this?

"What do you mean?"

"It made of silver."

"It is?" Beth made sure to keep her heart rate steady, not wanting to give him any idea she knew that vampires were real.

"Yeah, what are you afraid a vampire is going to come after you?"

"No, they don't exist remember? I didn't even know it was silver, my mom found it at a garage sale, and picked it up for me, because she knew I was looking for one."

"Oh, well, go ahead; if it's yours you can have it."

"Thanks." She tucked it back in her pocket. She looked at him, and felt slightly vulnerable, the night was beginning to finally sink in. She wrapped her arms around him, felling in need of a hug. She felt him stand there for several seconds, seemingly shocked, then hesitantly wrapped his arms around her, very lightly, as if afraid she would break if he held her too firmly. Then her rested his chin on her shoulder, relaxing slightly, and hugged her tighter. She just stood there, gathering her strength to pull away, but she didn't, she stayed.

Finally, Mick pulled back, and Beth let her arms drop to her sides. "You need to rest, I'll take you home."

"What about my car?"

"Well, we can stop at the Hall for you to get you purse, and then I'll call a friend to have it towed to you're house, how's that?"

"That's fine." To tell the truth she was glad she didn't have to go back alone, she wasn't ready for that just yet.

"Alright, come on." He grabbed a coat, and handed it to her, then held the door for her to go out. The ride was mostly silent, but not uncomfortable.

"I'll go get my bag while you call your friend." Beth hoped he would say it was ok, he might have believed her about the knife, but the stake in her bag wouldn't be able to be explained away. He would know for sure she knew about vampires, and then she would have to try and explain to him that she didn't care what he was. All in all, it wouldn't be a pretty sight to witness.

"That's fine." He parked next to her car, and pulled out his phone. Beth absently noticed they had the same type of phone.

"Hey, Josef, look I need you to have someone tow a car." Josef was the friend he had planned on calling, oh well, it did make sense.

"I'll go get my things." She opened the door as he nodded, and retraced her steps of last night. She was grateful she had come here during the day; it wouldn't be quite so frightening then.

She found her bag where she had last seen it, with the contents strewn across the floor. The stake was lying in the middle of the floor, so unless someone was completely oblivious they wouldn't notice it, but Beth was sure Mick would have. She gathered everything up; then looked around. Everything was as she had left it, except that no one else was there. Beth didn't know where the professor had gone to, although, if Mick had come down here, he probably would have done something to him, he was a vampire after all.

She headed back to where Mick was waiting, as she got in the car, she saw a tow truck pulling into the parking lot. Mick walked over to them, and seemed to be giving directions to them, then returned to the car. "Ok, they'll be bringing the car around about fifteen minutes after we get there."

"Ok." He drove off, taking several short-cuts to her house. He pulled up along side the curb, and got out to open her door. Beth smiled, so he must have been of the 'gentleman age' there were mainly two, one about seventy years ago, and then the other one, centuries ago. "Would you like to come in?"

"Um, I-sure." He turned the car off, and followed her up the sidewalk. He stood on the doorstep as she entered, seemingly unsure if he could enter.

"Well come in." He walked slowly in, and then stood there, as if waiting to be told to leave. "Why don't we sit down?"

There was a hiss as he walked toward the couch. Phantom stood up and arched his back. Mick just stared at him, not moving, staring him in the eyes. Phantom slowly relaxed, and hesitantly walked towards him. Mick held his hand out, and let the cat sniff him. Phantom lashed out, and scratched him. Mick did nothing, and Phantom jumped back onto the couch.

"Well, he's accepted you, why don't you sit down?"

"Um, ok." He sat down on the couch, and she sat down in front of him, Phantom curled up on his lap. Mick relaxed slightly.

"I told you Phantom was bigger than Midnight."

"Yeah, I wasn't quite ready to believe you, but I do now." Beth chuckled, then became serious once again.

"I just want to say thank you for, well, I guess you would say, rescuing me, normally I don't need it, but I'm glad you were there when I did." There she had said it, and although he might not know it, she was saying thank you for more than one rescue. She stood up. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Uh, no thank you."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'll probably be leaving soon anyway." Oh, yeah stupid, he's a vampire; he can't taste anything besides blood. Beth felt like kicking herself, but she couldn't do anything about it, at least not yet. She was determined to wait for him to tell her what he was; there was no other way to go about it. Unless he told her, there was no way he would accept it, and even then he might not. She watched as Mick scratched Phantom on the head.

"Oh, ok, well, maybe next time."

"Yeah, maybe, look I really should be getting home." He picked up Phantom, set him on the couch next to him, stood up, and walked toward the door.

"Oh, well, I'll see you around some time."

"Yeah, I guess, I mean maybe." He looked down, and Beth walked up to him.

"Now that I have your number you won't be escaping from me any time soon." She said this half seriously, half humorously.

He smirked slightly at her tone. "Ok, ok." She opened the door, and watched him get into his car, and drive off; she waved until he was out of sight. For several minutes she just stood there, staring at where she had last seen him.

She shook herself, she had a report to write, and not like it had happened either, she couldn't have people wondering how certain things had happened. She grabbed her phone, and called Mo.

"Hello?"

"Hey Mo, it's Beth, I've got the story so I'll type it up, and send it to you so you can look it over."

"Ok, is it interesting?"

"You have no idea."

"Oh, any juicy details?"

"Uh, not exactly, but I do have an attempted murder, and-"

"Girl, how do you know about this?"

"Because I was the one who almost got-"

"What, Beth, please tell me you are joking."

"No I'm not."

"Are you alright, do you really want to do this, have you called the police?"

"Yes I'm sure, and Mick has already taken care of it, he is a PI after all."

"True, are you sure you're alright though, if you want some time off-"

"Mo, I'll be fine, I just need to get this done, and then I'll be working on another story."

"Beth I'm not, well, I know you're not going to listen to me so I'll stop. So what happened?"

"I'll type everything up, and you can read it then."

"Alright, but I don't like you just jumping back into things after being almost killed.

"Mo, I'll be fine, there is no need to worry about me. I'll muddle through it, and get back on track."

"Alright."

I'll get to typing now, I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, bye."

"Bye." Beth headed over to her computer, and started to type, she left out the knife being silver, they didn't need to know that, nor did they need to know the professor thought he was a vampire. She also left out what he almost did to her, as she was pretty certain that Mick had dealt with that vamp style, or at least done something to make sure he wouldn't hurt anyone again. She finished the report, and sent it to Mo. Now she just had to wait for Mo to look it over.

She looked out the window; she felt restless, she didn't want to stay here it didn't feel right just yet. Now would probably be a good time to call Natasha. She grabbed her phone from where she had tossed it, and dialed in her number.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Natasha, it's Beth."

"Oh, hey, so how'd everything go last night?"

"Um, well, I need to talk to you about that; is there somewhere we could meet, or should we wait until later when it's closer to twilight?"

"Oh, no now is fine, why don't I head over there, if that's alright with you."

"It's fine, how soon will you be here?"

"Um, give me about fifteen minutes."

"Ok."

"See you then."

"Yeah, see ya."

Now she would just have to wait until she showed up, she really needed someone to talk to right now. It was even better because she could just talk, and not be afraid of what she said to her. Beth walked over to the window, and stood waiting.


	9. Chapter 9

Ok, here it is, sorry it took so long.

* * *

Chapter 9

Finally, Natasha pulled over to the side of the road; she got out, and hurried to the porch. Beth walked to the door, and the doorbell rang. She opened the door, and held it open.

"Hey, come on it, don't need you standing out in the sun now do we?"

Natasha grinned slightly. "No I suppose not, although it is slightly more bearable on your porch." Beth chuckled, and nodded.

"Alright, but you're still invited to come in." Natasha walked in, and sat down on the couch.

"So what happened last night?"

"Well, I got attacked by the professor. He say the mike, and began looking for the recording, I got away and-" She stopped. "Why don't we just go there, and you can do that funny smelling thing, it'll be easier than me trying to tell you everything." Natasha looked at her.

"Um, ok, are you sure you want to go back there?"

"I've already been there with Mick, and the more I go there, the sooner I'll get over what happened." She stood up, and walked to the door. "Do you want to drive separate, or not?" Natasha looked as thought she was considering it, then her face went slightly firm.

"Separately will be fine." Clearly she wasn't ready to fully trust Beth yet.

Beth grabbed her keys, and went to the garage. She got in her car, and pulled out. Natasha was waiting. Beth rolled down her window. "You going to follow?"

"Sure."

"Ok." Beth pulled away, grateful that Mick had called Josef, and returned her car.

Beth parked in the same place Mick had earlier, Natasha pulled up beside her. They both got out, and Beth led the way down to the boiler room. As they walked, Natasha spoke up.

"So how do you know about our ability to smell the past?"

"Some internet sites are actually truthful, although most of the time they belong to people who want people like you dead, and are looked at by people of the same mind, not by people who want to know more about you." Natasha nodded, and stayed silent.

They reached the study groups room, and stood in the doorway. Natasha sniffed, dragging her nose up so it almost pointed strait up in the air, her eyes went wide, and slightly glassy, she stayed that way for several seconds. Then she snapped her head down, and stared at Beth.

"Wh-What happened next?" Her voice was slightly shaky as she spoke.

"I ran back up the stairs." Beth turned and led the way back the way they had come.

They walked out into the open, and Natasha repeated what she had done in the basement, then headed off toward where Beth had took off running to. She did it again, then turned back to Beth.

"You tried to tell him, you risked him knowing you knew what he was to try and save him." Beth looked sad.

"Yeah, but I couldn't even get out that it was silver. I couldn't even move, I couldn't help him!" She was screaming the words out now. She collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face.

"But you tried, you fought, you told him to be careful, and even though you couldn't tell him it was silver, the fact that you know what he is, and still tried proves that you really don't care."

Beth's eyes flashed, and she leapt to her feet. "I told you when we first met that I didn't care, and I still don't! How am I supposed to get that through your think vamp skull, huh?!"

"I know you told me, but it's kind of hard to believe when most humans who find out what we are look at us like monsters!"

"I never did that, I never said anything to make you think I did!" They were both on their feet, screaming at each other. Beth's eyes were blazing, so bright they looked almost silver, Natasha's eyes were going silver, and her pupils were contracting. Beth didn't even blink, she just kept screaming. "Mick saved me when I was 5, and I'm starting to think he kept an eye over me for my entire life, he sent me letters whenever I sent him one, he looked after me." She broke off, her anger fading. "And I couldn't do the same for him." Her shoulders slumped, and her eyes filled up with tears again.

Natasha's eyes went back to normal, and she looked at Beth sympathetically. She pulled her into a hug, and just let her cry. Several minutes later, Beth pulled away, her eyes red from the tears. "Sorry, I guess I needed to let that out, I just-I feel so guilty that the one time I could have helped him, I was too weak to do anything."

"Beth, you weren't weak, I saw what the man did and I'm surprised you stayed awake as long as you did, you fought to let Mick know that he was in danger. If you ever are in a situation like that again, I willing to bet that Mick will find out that you know what he is."

Beth was quiet for a moment, then she said, quietly. "Thanks, but I want him to tell me, it just doesn't seem right any other way."

"That's not going to happen Beth, Mick hates what he is, why would he tell a human?"

"I'm hoping I can get him to trust me enough." Natasha didn't say anything, but Beth could tell she didn't think it would do any good.

Beth sighed. "I had better head on home, do you want to come, or do you have somewhere else to be?"

"No, although I would like to see where you work."

"Ok, follow me." Beth got in her car, and drove off toward Buzzwire, Natasha followed behind her.

Beth pulled up, and got out of the car. "Ok, so who are you going to be, a close friend who hasn't seen where I work yet?"

Natasha looked confused. "I thought that's what I was already." Beth's eyes lit up, and a smile stretched across her face.

"I wasn't sure; you didn't seem ready to trust me before."

"I wasn't-I didn't-I wasn't quite ready to accept the fact that there was a human who was willing to accept me, knowing what I am, most of them end up trying to kill us."

"Do you trust me now?"

Natasha hesitated, staring Beth in the eye, then nodded. "Yes, I do." Beth walked over to her, and gave her a hug, grateful for her trust.

"Thank you." They both nodded, and walked into Buzzwire. As Beth walked in, Mo walked over to her.

"Hey, I thought you were going to stay home today."

"I was, but a friend of mine wanted to see where I worked so, I'm just showing her around."

"Well, as long as you're here I can update you on your next report. Lee Jay Spalding is getting out of jail; apparently he was innocent of the crime he was convicted of." Beth felt Natasha stiffen next to her.

"Ok, thanks, I'll look into it."

"Hey, Beth I just remembered I have an appointment so I'm gonna go." Natasha turned to leave, but Beth called out to her.

"Wait, I'll come with you." As soon as they were out in the parking lot, Beth walked in front of Natasha, and stopped. "Ok, what is going on, what did that guy do?"

"He didn't do anything, well he did, he isn't innocent, but that's not why I'm concerned."

"Then what are you concerned about?"

"Mick, Lee Jay knows what Mick is." Beth froze.

"He-what-no-how?"

"Lee Jay had attacked one of Mick's clients, she was Lee Jay's wife, and had come to Mick to protect her, Mick had felt that Lee Jay needed to be taken care of, but not how the police wanted to, Mick went to kill him, and attacked him. He had just bit him when a cop showed up." Beth just stood there, disbelief etched across her face.

"Then-then he's after Mick, am I right?"

"I'd assume so, I can think of no other thing he'd like nothing better than to either kill or in some other way punish the man who put him behind bars." Beth let that sink in, then remembered something Natasha had said.

"Why did she want protection from Lee Jay?"

"He was abusing her."

"Wasn't that what he was convicted for?"

"Yeah, his first wife though, now they've come up with the idea that he's innocent, I don't know where they came up with that."

"Thank you for telling me." Beth walked over to her car, opened the door, then turned back to Natasha. "So what are you going to do?"

"I'm going over to Mick's to tell him about this."

"Alright, if you find anything out please let me know."

"Ok, will do." Natasha pulled out a drove off.

Beth got into her car, and drove back home, thinking about Lee Jay. If he was planning to go after Mick then he would need at least some protection. Lee Jay wasn't a vampire, but he was still dangerous. He just had more weaknesses. Beth headed strait to her bedroom as soon as she was home. She grabbed the pillowcase and pulled everything out. She ended up just keeping the silver knife, and the long one, they should be enough, she hoped.

* * *

So has anyone figured out where I got the name from yet? Come on, please someone get it soon. Christine will be very upset with you.


	10. Chapter 10

Ok, guys I'm really, really sorry it took so long, I had to work on a paper for school, and then when I tried to load it onto , for some reason I couldn't. So it wasn't really my fault, but I'm still sorry.

Chapter 10

Beth sat there thinking then got up and walked over to her computer. She typed in 'Lee Jay Spalding' and waited. A name popped up Julia Stevens was apparently writing a book called Wronged Man,

Beth knew Julia; she was a reporter for one of the local news papers, she had met during one of her internships. Beth decided to pay her a visit, and maybe convince her that Lee Jay wasn't someone to associate with, or if nothing else put her on her guard.

She grabbed her keys, and drove over. She walked in, and looked around, trying to see Julia. She found her at a desk in the back.

"Hello, I'm Beth, Beth Turner, I had an internship here a few years ago and-"

"Oh Beth, hi, so how are you doing?"

"I work at Buzzwire now."

"Really, wow. So what brings you back to this neck of the woods?"

"I'm doing a report on Lee Jay Spalding, and I heard you're writing a book about him, so I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions."

"Oh of course, my lunch break is just about to start anyway."

"Thank you."

Julia stood up. "So, where would you like to go?"

"It doesn't matter."

"Ok, I'll just got grab my lunch and we can talk in the boardroom; you remember where that is right?"

"Yup, down the hall, a left, and it's the last room on the right, am I right?"

"Yes, you are."

"K" Beth walked to the boardroom, and set her things down by one of the chairs. She looked around, the room hadn't changed since she'd last been there, same light brown walls, no windows, in short it still looked boring.

The door opened, and Julia walked in. "Oh good you did find it ok, I was afraid you might have gotten lost."

"Julia, I haven't been gone that long, I can still find my way around this place better than you."

"Ha, ha very funny." Julia sat down, and pulled out her lunch. "I hope you don't mind."

"Oh no it's fine."

"Ok, so what did you want to ask me?"

Beth pulled out a pen, and notepad. "What was it that has made you so sure that this man is innocent?"

"He's just a really great guy. He holds no grudges against those who put him behind bars, and has suffered very little from being in jail."

"Ok, so how do you know he's not just a food actor?"

"It just that he's so sincere, it can't possible be an act."

"But what if it is Julia, what if the police are letting a murderer loose? This is just hypothetically."

"Well, first he's go after, I'm assuming here, the person who trusts him the most, the one who wouldn't event think him possible of any wrong doing what so ever."

Beth nodded. "So what about, it could just be a rumor, but wasn't there a PI involved in the original case?"

"Yeah, Mick St. John."

Beth pretended to look surprised. "Mick St. John, you're joking right?"

"No, here." Julia pulled out a folder. "Here, take a look." She tossed the folder onto the table in front of Beth. Beth opened it, there he was, his hair looked different, but it was still Mick. Beth forced herself to look shocked. "Oh my."

"Oh, do you know him? He wouldn't return my calls."

"Well, yeah, but the Mick I know is like 30, this can't be him."

"Maybe it's just a coincidence."

"It can't be, they look almost exactly alike, the hair seems a bit different, but not much else. It could be his father I guess, but still."

"Why don't you ask him?"

Beth looked at her, her eyes going slightly frigid. "If he wants to tell me he can, I am not going to ask him, maybe there is a reason he hasn't mentioned any of his family to me, but I am nit going to invade his privacy by asking him about it."

Julia looked slightly surprised at Beth's strong response. "What is he your boyfriend?"

Beth blushed slightly, but shook her head.

"Well, you're lucky I'm already involved otherwise from the look of this picture you would have to introduce us." Julia said this teasing, but something surged up in Beth, something angry. Beth shook her head slightly, trying to clear her head. Beth stood up, putting her notebook in her bag.

"Well, thank you for talking to me, I really appreciate it."

"Oh no problem, thanks for stopping by."

Beth grabbed her things, and left quickly. She got in her car, and sat there. What was going on with her? Why had she felt, well the only name she could come up with for the emotion was jealous? Why had she felt angry that Julia had suggested she could see herself becoming involved with Mick? It made no sense to her. Beth shook her head, she could probably use Natasha's help figuring this out, she was a vampire after all, but she was probably still at Mick's.

Beth started her car, and headed back home. She hurried inside, and went strait to her room, Phantom followed her. She went to her closet. And pulled out a box, it was plain, but good sized. She set it on her bed, sat next to it, and lifted the lid. Carefully, she pulled out a large handful of cards. They were ones that Mick had sent her, or she hoped he had, it could have just been her mom sending them to her to help her get past everything. She looked at the first one in the pile.

Beth,

It's ok to be scared; sometimes you need to be scared it helps make everything to be a little clearer. But it's not good to be like that all the time, you need a chance to live, not just to exist.

MJ

That letter had been sent after she had turned 6, she had been afraid to be more than 10 feet from her mother. The letter had helped her to get over her fears, and move on, not to forget, but at least to get past it.

The fact that the letter was signed MJ made Beth think Mick had sent it. Her mom would have to put Mick, Mick St. John, or something like that. Mick would not have wanted her to have any way to find him. It would have brought up to many questions had he not changed had she found him years later. He hadn't, but he didn't think she knew everything, well not everything, but enough to understand why he did things the way he did.

Her phone rang, and Beth answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey Beth, it's Natasha, do you have time to talk?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, where are you?"

"Home."

"K, I'll be there in a few minutes."

"K."

Beth walked over to the door to wait for Natasha to arrive.

OK to shell36799, and ella0minnow0pea who figured out where I got Beth's cat's name, Phantom from, you will get sneak peaks for the next chapter, you were supposed to get them for this chapter, but as you would get them at the same time as everyone else anyway, I'll wait and give you your reward next chapter.

To those who didn't figure it out, I got his name, and eyes, from The Phantom of The Opera.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

She only had a few minutes to wait. Beth opened the door as Natasha walked up the steps. "Hey."

"Hi, so did you find anything out?"

"Yeah, well, kinda, come on in, and I'll explain." Natasha entered, and walked over to the couch, Beth sat across from her. "Ok, Julia Stevens, she's a news paper reporter who's writing a book titled, Wronged Man."

"Let me guess, it's about Lee Jay."

"Yeah, and she doesn't have any clue about who, no, what she's dealing with, she truly believes he is innocent. I tried to put her on her guard, but I don't think it did any good."

"If she is writing a book called Wronged Man, then she probably believes what she is writing, and, if that is the case, then I doubt anything less than seeing Lee Jay do something wrong would convince her."

"You're probably right. What about you, find anything?"

"Nope. Mick was a bit on edge from telling Josef everything, but nothing major was said."

"What do you think he's planning?"

"Who, Mick or Lee Jay?"

"Well, I meant Mick, but now I think about it, both."

"Well, Mick is probably going to try and get Lee Jay either dead, or back in prison. Lee Jay will be out to do the same thing to Mick. Personally, I think Mick would prefer being dead to being in prison."

"What, I mean I know what vampires can't be in prison, but couldn't he just change his identity?" Natasha looked at her for a minute.

"If he did that neither of us would see him for decades, and maybe never for you."

Beth froze, the thought made her want to cry. "At least he'd be alive."

"Would you really be willing to let him go completely?" Natasha asked gently.

Beth hesitated. "I-I'm not sure." She shooed her head, and changed the subject. "Hopefully things won't become so bad that we have to do that. Do you think Mick will do something stupid?" Natasha looked at her. "Yeah, stupid question." Natasha nodded. "Ok, how stupid do you think he will be?"

"I don't know."

"Beth sighed. "I guess we'll just have to wait for something to happen." Natasha nodded. "I hate waiting." Natasha laughted.

"Most humans don't, vampires on the other hand, most of us are quite patient; my brother being the exception." Beth chuckled, and Natasha continued. "We have the, well, the ability to wait for decades, centuries even, if we have to."

"Beth smiled. "I'll be sure to remember that."

"Natasha grinned. "I'm sure you will."

Beth stroked Phantom's head, and Natasha stood up. "Well, I'd better be going, or Josef will have my head."

Beth smirked. "On a silver platter?"

"Perhaps."

"Well we wouldn't want that happening now would we?"

"No I suppose not."

"Well, I'll see you."

"Yeah, bye." She headed over to the door, then turned back, her hand on the doorknob. "If I find anything out I'll give you a call, or come tell you in person."

"Ok."

Natasha left, and Beth went upstairs, Phantom tagging along. Beth walked into one of the spare bedrooms. She mostly used the upstairs for storage, except for this room. Inside there were knives, swords almost. Some were almost two feet long. These she kept here unless she thought she might need them, and now she thought she might soon. She grabbed a duffle bag, and looked at her 'collection'. Beth decided on one, and then grabbed a pair of throwing knives. She slipped on their protective coverings, and put them in the bag. Now she would just have to remember to put them in her car. With her luck, if she didn't do it now, she would never get it done.

Beth grabbed the bag, and took it downstairs. She was just about to head out the door to put it in her car when she realized it might be a good idea to refresh how they worked before putting them there. She backtracked to her room, changed, and went down to the basement.

She unlocked one of the hidden panels, and pulled out one of her training dummies. She quickly set it up, grabbed her throwing knives and began to practice. She practiced with them for a good half-hour, then switched over to the really long knife, or the very short sword, whichever you wanted to call it. With this she was a little careful, so as not to completely destroy the dummy, she'd done that before, and she kept the coming on it, it was easier that way, and it also made it heavier. She dunked it in a colored powder so she would know where she had hit.

She ran the length of the room several times, then put the coverings back on, grabbed the bag, and put it in the car. She went back in, showered, got dressed, and headed to the kitchen for some food. Her stomach was protesting rather loudly to her lack of food. Phantom wandered in behind her. Beth looked in her fridge, and decided on a bowl of cereal, she didn't feel much like cooking. As she grabbed her bowl and spoon, Phantom meowed up at her, rubbing against her legs. She went back into the fridge, and pulled out some leftover meatloaf from last weekend. She dumped it into a bowl, and set in on the floor in front of him. He immediately started eating. Beth shook her head, the way he acted people would think she's never fed him before.

She finished her, rinsed out her bowl and spoon, and set them in the dishwasher. Phantom looked up at her, his bowl empty, so she put his in as well. She put everything else away, and headed out to the living room. She grabbed her phone from her purse, and called Mick.

"Hello, long time no see."

Beth chuckled. "Yeah. Ok, question, are you working on any cases at the moment?" She knew he probably wasn't, but it felt safer to ask.

"Well, hello to you too, I'm fine thanks for asking."

"Oh hush, but hello, so are you?"

"No I'm not, why?"

"Because I could use some help on the case I just got from Mo, interested?"

"Before I say yes tell me what the case is."

"Dang you're to smart for me."

"Somehow I doubt that." He said wryly, and they both gave a small laugh.

"Maybe, so what do you say?"

"I say nice try.'

"Darn, ok I'll tell you. It's about Lee Jay Spalding, you know, the guy getting out of prison."

"Yeah, but that one's pretty strait forward, why do you need my help?"

"I-this is going to sound crazy, but-I just think there has got to be more to it than that."

Mick was silent for a second, then spoke slowly, as though picking his words carefully. "Are you sure, I mean a lot of people seem to think he was wrongly convicted."

"So you don't agree with me." She forced herself to sound disappointed.

"No I agree with you-"

"So you'll help me?"

"Now I didn't say that."

Mick gave a rather large, exaggerated sigh. "Well since you asked so nicely and if someone's not around you'll probably do something foolish."

"Hey!"

"What?" He asked sounding perfectly innocent.

"Please, pretty please, I really want your help on this."

Mick asked sounding perfectly innocent.

"Oh never mind." He chuckled, and she stuck her tongue out in retaliation, and made the noise to go with it.

"Hey, are you sticking your tongue out at me?"

"And if I am?" She paused and then the words popped out of her mouth before she could stop them. "What're you gonna go about it, bite it?"

"Um no, not what I had in mind."

Beth chuckled, but inside was wondering what had possessed her to say that. "OK, I'll sop teasing you."

"Please do."

"So you'll help me."

"Didn't I just say something about you getting into trouble if someone-"

"Ok, ok, that's enough." Beth interjected.

"Yes I will."

She gave a glad cry of glee. "Yay, thanks."

"You do realize you sounded like a teenager whose mother just gave permission to go do, or to something right?" He sounded like he was having trouble keeping his laughter in."

"Are you laughing at me?"

"No…not fun when you're on the other end of the teasing now is it?'

"Be careful, or I might just have to hurt you."

"You could try."

"I would find a way."

"Oh really, how?" He said this so dryly that Beth spoke once again without thinking.

"I'll ask Natasha to get you for me."

There was silence at the other end, then Mick spoke his voice guarded. "How do you know her?"

"She helped me find Professor Ellis' class. I found out who she was, and told her what I was really doing there, and that I knew you, and now we have each others numbers."

"Oh."

"Alright, how about I talk to you tomorrow, and I'll give you a ticket to get in to see Lee Jay at the official opening of the book, Julia gave me-"

"No, that's alright, take you're boyfriend, I'm sure-"

"I don't have one."

"Oh, ok, I guess I'll go then."

"Where do you want to meet?"

"Um, either your house, or mine is fine."

"Doesn't matter to me."

"Well, you're a lot of help, why don't we meet at yours, it's closer."

"Ha, ha."

"What, it makes sense."

"Yes it does."

"Alright then, I'll see you tomorrow, bye."

"Yeah, night."

"Oh, is it night?" She looked at the clock, it was 7:45. "Oh. I guess it is, well, good night then."

"Bye." They both hung up.

Beth stood up stretched, and went into her bedroom. With all that had happened yesterday and now Lee Jay after her Mick she was tired-wait _her Mick_, where had that thought come from? She shook her head; it was probably just from being so tired. She changed, and burrowed under the covers; Phantom jumped up, and curled up next to her. She was asleep within five minutes.


	12. Chapter 12

Ok, still not mine.

Chapter 12

She was running again, this time so fast her surroundings were a blur, wait she couldn't run that fast, could she. She shook her head, she'd deal with that later, something was happening, something she had to stop. There were sounds of snarling, and growls from up ahead it sounded like a fight.

Then everything went silent. No! She rounded a corner, and ran strait into someone, they went flying into the wall. She ran towards them, and stumbled over someone, she looked down, it was Mick, there was a stake in his chest, she pulled it out, and he jumped up.

"Get out!"

"No, I'm not leaving you!"

"I said get out!"

"And I said no, deal with it!" She ran forward, and grabbed the person, well, vampire that had been thrown against the wall. It was female, Beth pulled her head back, but it was no one she recognized.

Suddenly she was flung backwards, she felt her ribs crack, and cried out in pain. No she couldn't leave Mick to fight alone, she had to fight the pain, but it was leaving, her ribs didn't hurt anymore. What was going on? Then Mick was hurled back to land next to her, and he landed hard on his side. The vampire grabbed the stake, and stabbed him with it; he went still, unable to move.

She snarled with rage, how dare they hurt him! She felt her teeth lengthen and her nails thicken, and roared with anger; she lashed out with her hand, grabbed the vampires arm, and tackled her. She scratched, and bit all she could, then flung her to the side. The vampire didn't move, she had to heal at least some of her wounds before going to the offensive. She took the time to once again pull the stake out of Mick, and helped him up.

"Thanks."

"Welcome, now are you glad I stayed." Mick said nothing, but pulled her away, as the vampire slashed at her. He snarled, and flipped her onto her back, grabbed the stake lying on the ground, and stabbed downward. The vampire went still, and Mick stood up. He turned to her, and she felt something grab her from behind, then tried to warn him as something pulled him back as well,. She watched horrified, as whoever it was pulled out a large knife, and cut his head off.

She screamed. No words, just a long unbroken scream.

Beth sat up. She was drenched in sweat, it was another dream. What was going on? Why was she having them? And why the heck was she a vampire in that one? Beth shook her head, and looked at the clock. It was almost 7, it was time for her to get up anyway, but she was going to be jumpy all day without having time to work off this energy.

Something brushed her side, she jumped, ready to defend herself, but it was only Phantom. He meowed at her, and she smiled slightly. She scratched his head, then got up, and went to shower. She leaned against the shower wall, letting the water wash over, trying to calm her shaking.

It wasn't her being a vampire that had her so shaken, she could live with that, well technically unlive, it was Mick death. Why was she having dreams about him dying, and why were they leaving her so afraid, no that wasn't the right word, terrified was more like it.

Suddenly Phantom came running in, meowing, Beth grabbed a towel, and hurried into her bedroom, she was running to her dresser to grab a knife, when she realized that Phantom was pawing at her bag, and that her phone was ringing. Laughing with relief, she grabbed the phone, and looked at it. Seeing that it was Mick, she answered it.

"Hey."

"Um, you never said when exactly you were coming over."

"Oh, um, what time is it?"

"It says 7, and I'm assuming you want to be there early to take a look around."

"How'd you guess, yes I would so does 6 sound good, that way we can be there by 6:30."

"Sounds fine."

"Ok, I am getting cold so bye."

"Uh, why are you cold?"

"Because you called while I was in the shower, and had to get out to answer your call."

There was silence at the other end. "Um…well, I'll just let you get back to your shower k."

She chuckled, amused at hearing him so flustered. "K, bye."

"Er, yeah."

he dial tone filled Beth's ears, and she set the phone on her bed, then fell onto it, laughing.. For some reason Mick sounding so embarrassed was hilarious, or it could be that she was delirious with relief that her nightmare had just been a dream, and that; combined with his embarrassment; was making her slightly hysterical. Either way, it felt good to just laugh.

Finally calming down enough to stand up without collapsing from laughter, Beth headed back to the bathroom to finish her shower.

She came out, changed, and walked over to her computer, she opened up her e-mail, and found something from Mo, she clicked on it. Apparently there was something waiting for her at Buzzwire.

Beth grabbed her purse, made sure her phone was in it, and walked out the door. Halfway off the porch she rushed back inside, and hurriedly fed Phantom, grabbed a granola bar, and went back out.

Once in the car, she checked to make sure her duffle bag was in the back, then headed off to Buzzwire.

She pulled in, and got out. She had just walked in, when Mo walked up to her.

"Well, I don't know how you did it, but Julia Stevens came in, told me to give you this when you came in." She held out Wronged Man.

Beth looked at it with distaste. "Oh, um, I'll be sure to tell her thank you when I see her tonight."

"Oh? When did this happen?"

"It's the official release of the book, she gave me two tickets."

"So do you want to take Steve, or-"

"Um, I'm going with Mick St' John, we were thinking of looking around, and I feel the safest around him." Mo looked confused for a moment.

"Why do you feel safest around him?"

"He's the one who saved me." She wasn't talking about only last week, but Mo didn't know that.

"Oh, I didn't know exactly who saved you, I understand completely."

"Thanks, so I'm going to need to leave a bit early, we're planning on getting there early so we can look around, so around 6:15 would be good."

"What time does this start?"

"It starts at 7."

"7, girl you are leaving here at 4, 4:30 at the latest, you need to get ready."

"Why do you say that, I'll just grab a dress and put it on."

"Oh come on, don't tell me you're not the slightest bit interested in making this Mick stop dead in his tracks when he sees you."

Beth stood for a second, and was shocked to find that she did want to look nice. "Well, wait how do you know him?"

"When you told me you were taking a Mick St. John to the study group, I decided to take a look at him, and girl is he fine."

"Maureen."

"I'm just sayin' that you might consider taking some time to make yourself look your best for this PI of yours."

"He's not mine." A voice inside her head whispered, yet.

Mo echoed. "You mean he's not yours yet."

"Mo, please stop."

"Ok, fine I will, but only if you are out of here by 2."

"But I'll have four hours with nothing to do."

"Yes you will, how about this, you go out with some friend of yours, and you pick out the perfect dress."

Beth groaned, Mo was not going to let this go until she won, and part of her did want to go shopping, although she would never say that out loud. "Fine, I'll go, happy?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?"

"No." Beth answered quickly.

"I didn't think so."

"You'll pay for this."

Mo just looked at her, and caused Beth to let out a huff of frustration.

"Oh just get over to your desk, and start reading this book, you might find out something useful for the story." She held it out again, Beth took it, then hurried over to her desk, and almost dropped the book onto it. She sat down and stared at it. Mo walked over.

"Beth, it would help if you opened the book, it's not just going to read itself to you, you know."

"Yeah, I know, but for some reason I don't think that Lee Jay is innocent, I mean they were so certain that it was him twenty years ago, so why are they so convinced that he's guiltless?"

"Beth, things like this happen more often than we like to think, the police made a mistake, and now they are trying to fix it."

"I know it happens, but I just-"

"Beth, do the story, you can handle almost being killed by a man, and still do a story, but you don't think something is right, and you can't""

"I'll still do the story; I'm just not sure what angle I'm going to be on."

"Well, you had better decide by tomorrow."

"I'm sure I'll have an opinion after tonight."

"Good." She paused, her face thoughtful. "Ah, I understand, you can't concentrate, you're to excited about later tonight to even think about work. Well, seeing as what you are doing is part of your story, I'll let you slide this time, but you need to figure out something so do, or leave early."

"I'm already leaving early, and that's not why I'm not writing."

"Sure it's not."

"Mo, I'll have nothing to do if I leave now, I won't until at least 5:00, and you're making me leave at 2. What the heck am I supposed to do if I leave now?"

"Well, I suppose you could start your shopping early, oh go on get outta here."

"But I don't want to-"

"I said out, go on."

"But-"

"No buts, you are going to look fabulous for your PI, and I know he's not yours, besides, if something happens there with him that distracts you enough that I don't get my story, then I'll just have to find some juicy tidbits for you to work on, what is it you call it, oh yes, fluff I believe." Beth groaned.

"Ok, ok, I'm going, but if you give me fluff I swear I will quit."

"Well, then I guess you'll just have to try extra hard to not be distracted by Mr. PI."

Beth gave up trying to tell her that she was not going to be distracted by Mick, as secretly she knew she probably was. "Mo you know I am going to make you pay for this, right?"

"Oh, I know, but it's worth it to see you so aggravated."

"Oh gee thanks."

"You're welcome, not git."

"Oh fine." Beth grabbed her bag, tossed the book in, and headed back out. As she walked to her car, Mo called out to her.

"I want to see a picture of you with Mick in your new dress on your desk by the end of the week"

"Fine." Mo was not going to give that up either. Beth got in her car, and grabbed her phone. She called Natasha's number, and waited for her to pick up.

"Hey, what's up?"

"The roof of my car."

"Oh very funny, so why're you calling?"

"Mo is on the rampage, I need a new dress for tonight, and she also wants to see a picture of Mick and I on my desk by the end of the week, so I had better do both, or I'll never hear the end of it."

Natasha laughed. "And you're calling me why/"

"Cause you're the only one I can."

"Oh really."

"Yes really."

"Well, what time do you need this dress by?"

"Well, we're going to be at the release at around 6." Beth made sure to give herself some extra time, she didn't know how Natasha shopped.

"Ok, let's go now."

"You're kidding, now, nothing's open."

"That's what you think."

"How is anything open?"

"Well, it is for me, it can be nice being a multi-millionaire's sister once in a while."

"Oh, I forgot about that, yeah that does make sense."

Natasha was quiet for a moment. "Thanks."

Beth was confused. "What?"

"You're not making a big deal about it, it's rather nice, and refreshing."

"Ah, I get it, I think." They both laughed, removing the tension.

"So, I'll see you in about 15 minutes at your house, that sound good?"

"Um, yeah, I guess so."

"Ok, see you then."

"Yup."


	13. Chapter 13

And still not mine.

* * *

Chapter 13

Beth was waiting on the front porch when Natasha showed up. She pulled over, rolled down her window, and shouted. "Come on get in." Beth hurried over, and got in the passenger seat, then got back out.

"Hold on!" She ran to her car, grabbed the bag, then got back in the car.

"So what's that?"

"Oh, it's-well, we agreed that Mick was likely to do something stupid, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm very likely to be with him seeing as when Lee Jay makes his move Julia is probably going to be involved somehow, so I grabbed this." She held out the knife.

"Isn't that a little extreme?"

"I don't have a gun, so this is the best I could do, and besides I know how to use it. When Mick does something stupid, I want to be able to help, I don't want to sit there helpless like the last time he needed my help." Natasha nodded.

"Ok." Then she dropped the subject.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Beth spoke. "So why am I in your car? Why didn't you just have me follow you?"

"Well, this will take a while, no sense using up extra gas, and this way I get to choose where we go."

"Oh."

"Well, that and the fact that if we take long enough I get to see Mick in something other than his normal boring clothes."

Beth laughed. "So basically you want to see Mick dressed up."

"Well, that and see that picture taken, I mean someone has to take it."

"Yeah, I suppose."

"I think you and Mick will look very nice together."

"Oh, you and Mo are going to be the death of me!"

"What?" Natasha looked at her, a confused expression on her face, but her sparkling eyes gave her away.

"You two seem to be in on this together, or somehow channeling each other, because you both seem to be under the impression that Mick and I are soon to be a couple, and you know exactly who I am, and who he is to me, he's my Guardian Angel for goodness sake!"

"Oh don't even try that! How do you think most vampires became vampires?"

"They got bit, were fed their sire's blood, and became vampires."

"Ok, before that." Beth just looked at her. "They, the vampire, fell in love with a human, usually after saving them, now in your case Mick had to wait a few years before his feelings of protectiveness turned into something else, but once the human finds them again, and figures out what their savior is, they manage to convince them that they don't care. You and Mick seem to be going backwards on this, and you have to deal with Mick rather large self-loathing."

"But-"

"I know it's hard, but you seem to be going on the same path that many others have gone, just in the reverse order, well, that and you've known that he is a lot older than you-" She paused. "Oh I understand, it's that he's so much older, and it's making it hard to get over that isn't it?"

Beth hesitated, unsure of weather she should talk about this or not. "Well, every time I even think of starting a relationship, Mick's voice kept arguing with me, telling me not to, so eventually I gave up on dating all together, and yes it does make it a little strange seeing that he was thirty when he saved me, and is the same age now. I mean I know he has aged, but it's not quite so obvious, it's more how he looks at things, rather than what he looks like." Natasha was looking at her in some surprise. "What?"

"You haven't even said any objection to being compared to a vampire." Beth looked confused once again. "Most humans wouldn't be able to stand even it being suggested that they might become a vampire, or if they could it was for selfish reasons like not wanting to age, but you haven't even said anything about it."

"Vampires aren't all bad like they are in stories, you, Mick, and I'm assuming your brother seeing as Mick is friends with him, so being a vampires can't be all that bad."

"There are others, but not as many as there once was. Almost all those turned in the past century have been rather full of themselves, Mick being one of the few exceptions."

"Why have they been so full of themselves?"

"Most of them are, or were Americans, at least the ones I know, or have met; anyway, they were turned during times when America was going through one of their Isolation fasces, so they just took that with them when they were turned."

"So why is Mick so different?"

"Well, I think it's partly how he is, and partly that he was turned against his will, by-"

"His wife."

"How did you know it was her?"

"Mick was telling me that she died in a fire, and somehow he almost said he didn't know what, then he switched it to who."

"How did you get on that subject?"

"Um, I challenged him to play Twenty Questions."

"Twenty Questions, that's it, that's all it took?"

"Yeah, we compromised, he downsized it to ten questions each, and I said that you had to answer the question truthfully, one of the questions was what was your most, well how did I put it, most serious relationship, something like that."

"Ah."

"So, you think that's why he's different?"

"Yeah, and like I said I think it's also partly because of the kind of person he is, or vampire, take your pick."

Beth nodded. "So what else?"

"Well, this way if I drop you off there, then Mick will have to take you there, and that will help with the stupid factor."

"How?"

"Well, for one you will be there, and for another, if you rode with him, he's going to remember that and not make it so you have to leave under any embarrassing conditions."

"I guess that makes sense."

"Of course it does."

Beth rolled her eyes. "Look Miss-Know-It-All, before all of your brilliant plans can come to life, I need a dress, and I need to go home to change, so there goes that plan."

"You can change at my house."

"I need make-up."

"So I'll buy you a new case and you can put it on at my house."

Beth sighed. "Fine, I can see you are not going to give in to this, are you."

Natasha shook her head. "Nope, and I don't think you really want to change my mind do you?"

Beth looked down. "No, not really."

"Ha, so there, you may be unwilling, but you are still on my side." She stuck her tongue out at her, and Beth blushed, remembering one of her conversations with Mick, and Natasha leapt on her when she noticed the blood rushing to her cheeks. "Oh, what's this?"

"Nothing."

"Oh come on, tell me, I'm not going to stop until you do."

"Oh fine, Mick and I were, we weren't arguing, well, we were but it was playful, um…"

"Bantering you mean?"

"Yeah, that sounds right, anyway, he said something, and I stuck my tongue out like this." She demonstrated. "And he asked me if I was sticking my tongue out at him, and I said if I was what was he going to do about it?"

"What did he say?"

"Nothing."

"Huh, then what were you blushing for?"

"I said what was he going to do, and then I spoke without thinking."

"What did you say?"

"Um…nothing." Beth couldn't continue, for some reason it just didn't seem right.

"Oh come on."

Beth didn't say anything, she just shook her head, she didn't know how to explain that she didn't feel that she could explain what she had said, but Natasha seemed to understand, and dropped it.

"So where are we going?"

"We are going to see my brother's personal designer; he sometimes makes things for me and my friends."

"Your brother's what?!" Beth was in shock, she was going where?

"Oh come on, it'll be fun." She had no doubt about that.

"Oh fine, but how will I have a dress by tonight?"

"He has almost every style, in every color, a few adjustments on something, and it will fit like it was made for you."

"Ok, so how soon will we be there?"

"In about a minute, he's just up ahead." There was silence as Natasha pulled over, and parked. "Ok, come on." They got out, and walked to the door.

Natasha rang the door bell, and they both waited. The door opened, a woman saw Natasha, and motioned for them to come in. She led them down a hall, opened a door, and spoke to someone inside.

"Mr. Mansfield will see you now Miss Konstantin."

"Thank you." She walked forward, and Beth went to follow, but the woman stepped in front of her. "Oh, no Arrestina, she's with me."

"Oh, I didn't know if you wanted her to go I with you or not."

"Yes, it's actually her we came here for."

"Oh, very well." She moved aside and let Beth pass, then closed the door behind them.

A well dressed man with dark blond-brown hair with graying at his temples turned to look at them, he smile warmly at Natasha, who walked over and gave him a fond hug.

"So what do you need this time? Elegant evening gown, stylish skirt for a night on the town…" He trailed off.

"Alex I know perfectly well you heard everything that was said outside that door now behave."

"Natasha, when have I even been not on my best behavior?"

"Um, let's see how about every time I see you." She raised an eyebrow.

"Very well, so who it this-" He brook off, his eyes blazing. "Natasha, who is this girl?"

"You know Mick right."

"Perfectly well, haven't seen him in a while, but yes."

"She's a friend of his."

"But Mick doesn't-" He stopped, glancing sidelong at Beth, and suddenly she understood.

"Oh, I do know, well-" She bit her lip, and looked at Natasha, who rolled her eyes.

"Ok, both of you know about vampires, ok, is that what you are both so worried about?" They both nodded. "Well, there you go, you answered your own questions."

"Very well, now what-" I told you everything you need to know in that phone call, and you darn well know it."

"Alright, spoil-sport." He looked at Beth. "Come with me I have several dresses that I think you will like the look of.

He led her though a door, and Beth gasped.

Ok, this will be the last update for a few weeks, school has taken control of my life, sorry.


	14. Chapter 14

Ok, here is the update, I don't know when the next will be, but hope this will keep you coming back.

Chapter 14

It was nearly 4:30 by the time they left, Beth had known exactly which dress she had wanted as soon as she saw it, but Natasha made her keep trying on all the dresses until there were none left to try, and then let Beth choose the one she wanted. It was now safely in the back seat as Natasha drove to her house. They pulled in and Natasha told Beth to watch what she did. She pressed a small brick next to the gate, it flipped up, and a number pad came out.

"Don't for get these numbers, if you ever need somewhere to go, or someone to talk to and for some reason don't have, or don't want to use you phone you can come here, no questions asked, ok?"

"Yeah." She watched as Natasha typed in the numbers, 826-7473-77635. "There is no way I am going to remember that."

"You need to remember 826-7473-77238." As she said this, she entered that number in and said. "Beth Turner." A programmed voice recited.

"New name, new password."

"So how am I supposed to remember that?"

"Put it on your phone for now, but get rid of it once you have it memorized."

"Ok." She pulled out her phone, dialed the number into it and saved it. "Got it."

"Ok, let's go." She drove through the gates, and they closed behind them.

"Ok, so you've got your dress, the shoes, the bag, and everything else that goes with it, now we just need to get you ready, and I have just the idea." She grinned.

"Why do I not like the sound of that?"

"Oh I don't know."

"Sure you don't, so how long is this plan of your going to take?"

"Oh only about five hours."

"Five hours, the opening will be done by then!"

Natasha laughed. "I was kidding!" Beth glared at her. "What, I couldn't resist."

"Oh sure you couldn't, seriously though, how long do you think it will take?"

"An hour, and hour an a half tops."

"An hour?"

"That's what I said isn't it?"

"I'm just clarifying."

"Ok. And here we are." They had finally come to the end of the rather long driveway, and were parked in front of a large house. "Ok, come on, let's grab everything, and head in." She opened the door, grabbed the dress, while Beth got everything else. She unlocked the door, and walked in. Beth looked around as she entered.

The room was a light cream, with mahogany moldings all around. The floor was a dark cherry, and the rug was a deep scarlet.

"Nice." She said appraisingly.

"Thanks, ok let's get you up to one of the guest rooms so you can take a bath, and get dressed." She turned, walked into one of the other rooms, and then led the way up the stairs.

"Ok." Beth followed. Natasha walked to the end of the hall, and opened the door.

"Alright over there." She pointed to a door on the right side of the room. "There's the bathroom, it has everything you'll need."

"Why do you have so many rooms?"

"If Josef decided he needs a retreat that's close enough for him to step in if he needs to, he usually comes here, and he always brings several freshies with him."

"Ah, ok." She walked in, set everything on the bed in the middle of the room. Natasha held up the dress.

"Where do you want me to put this?"

"Just hang it on the back of the bathroom door." Natasha did so, and then left, but not before saying.

"Oh and if Mick's jaw doesn't drop, I will be surprised." Beth said nothing, walked into the bathroom, and Natasha closed the door behind her.

After relaxing in the tub for several minutes, Beth washed, got out, dried her hair as much as she could, then took the dress from the hanger, and slipped into it.

She couldn't zip it up on her own, so she walked out into the room, opened the door, and called out. "Hey Tasha, can you help me with this?"

Natasha appeared at the bottom of the hall. "What did you call me?"

"Tasha, why?"

"No reason, just wondering, now what did you need help with?" She walked toward her.

"The zipper, I can't get it all the way." She turned, and Natasha laughed.

"That's it, and here I thought it would be something more interesting." She zipped the dress up, still chuckling softly. "There no is there any other reason I must stand here and suffer you presence?"

"Oh gee thanks. No there is nothing else; I would hate to make you suffer…not!" She turned. "I'm not sure what I should do with my hair though." She frowned down at it.

Natasha looked thoughtful. "Well, how about we put the bangs up, and leave the rest to hang down. Well, brush it, but let it dry on it's own, it'll get curly then." Beth nodded.

"Yeah, that would work."

"Well then what are we standing out here for, get in there and sit down."

"I'm going I'm-" Suddenly there was no one standing in front of her, she turned and walked back into the room, to see her standing by a chair, a brush and a comb in her hands.

"Not fast enough, get over here."

"Hey, it's not my fault I don't have all those cool vampire abilities." She walked over, and sat down in the chair.

"Well, that could be changed soon."

Beth sighed. "No it won't." She sounded resigned. Natasha stopped brushing her hair.

"What? You seemed fine with it before, why the change?"

"You and I both know that Mick will never turn me, not while he sees himself as a monster." Natasha returned to brushing her hair and was quiet for a few minutes, then spoke softly, as though choosing her words carefully.

"Mick has always hated what he's become, maybe because of the blood, but I think it may have also been the fact that he became a vampire through deception. And having to leave his family without a word of warning couldn't have helped either."

"That's so, I don't know sad, horrible, and a whole bunch of emotions I can't even describe."

"I know how you feel, but having you actually here, able to talk to him may help when he finds out you've known all along, and hadn't taken off running at the first chance you had."

"I hope so." There was silence for several minutes, then Natasha asked.

"Do you have a hair tie?" Beth held up her wrist in answer, and Natasha pulled the tie from it. "You know, you're lucky my brother isn't here, he would have taken that as an invitation to have dinner." Beth laughed. "Hey, stop moving, I'm working here."

"Sorry." Beth said, not sounding sorry at all.

"There done." She opened one of the bags, pulled out shoes, and a small box. "Ok, time to put everything else on." She handed Beth the box, and waited as she put the necklace and earrings on. The waited for her to put the shoes on, and stood back for another look. "Ok, how about just some eye-shadow, mascara and some lip-gloss?"

"Sounds fine to me, you're the expert."

"Hardly." Natasha opened the make-up container, and handed it to Beth.

"Well, you do have almost 400 years on me." Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Oh thank you ever so much for reminding me."

Beth turned away from the mirror, and grinned cheekily. "You're welcome." She turned back, and resumed her task. Once done, she turned to face Natasha. "So how do I look?"

"I'll repeat it again, if Mick doesn't drop to the ground in shock I am going to be very surprised." Beth smiled.

"So are we ready to leave?"

"Yup, just got to grab something for Mick; and you need the bag you're taking."

"Oh, I left it in the car; I've already got everything I need in it."

"Well, then I'll grab my things and we'll head out." She headed towards the door.

"So what am I going to do with my things?" Natasha looked back at the room.

"You can get them some other time."

"Ok."

"Why don't you head out to the car, I'll be there in a minute."

"Ok, sure." Beth walked out, and got in the car, Natasha cam out a minute later, a file in her hand.

"Ok, let's go."

* * *

Ok, that's it until next time.


	15. Chapter 15

Ok, here's my next update, I don't know when the next will be.

Once again, it's not mine, and if it was it wouldn't be being canceled!

Chapter 15

As they drove, Beth wondered about the file that Natasha had grabbed. She kept snatching looks at it lying innocently in between them, and finally Natasha decided to put her out of her misery.

"You know, all you had to do was ask."

Beth looked slightly shame-faced, but didn't look away. "Ok, fine, what is it?"

"It's every thing that I have been able to find out about Lee Jay. Everything he's bought, everyone he's talked to, and anything else you can think of."

Beth looked down at the file, wanting to know what was in it, but unsure if she would-no scratch that-she knew she wouldn't like what was in there. "I'm probably not going to like what's in there, but it would probably be a good idea for me to know."

Natasha nodded, it would be good for her to know as it was likely for her to be with Mick when he confronted Lee Jay. "Here." She handed the file to her. "Look all you want, but I will warn you, it's not pretty."

Beth looked up at Natasha. "I've seen a vampire fully vamped, seen one killed, and killed several, and I do crime reports, I think I can handle whatever's in here."

She opened it, there weren't many pictures, only a few of vampires being tortured, well, they had been tortured, they were dead now. Everything else was lists, people he had talked to, things he had bought. One of the items mage Beth go pale, Silver Buckshot. If he hit Mick with that, it would hurt, and most likely incapacitate him unless someone was able to help him.

After looking everything over, she put everything back in the file, and set it back down. "Thank you for letting me look at that."

Natasha nodded. "You ay need that information later as you will most likely be with Mick when he meets Lee Jay for the last time."

"Yeah, it's kinda hard to remember where exactly we are going. I mean with Maureen asking for a pi-oh crap! Did you bring the camera?"

Natasha laughed. "Yes, I brought the camera, I was not going to miss a chance to make Mick go all flustered."

"What do you mean, Mick never get's flustered."

"Oh not obviously, but if he keeps trying to change the subject you know he's feeling awkward."

"I'll remember that."

"You can remember it all you want, but you didn't here it from me, Mick may be over 300 years younger than me, but he can still kick my ass."

"Now that I will definitely remember in case you ever get on my nerves, and how? I mean isn't a vamp's ability to fight, or power based on age?"

"Partly, but it is also based on control, and Mick has the control of a vampire at least five times his age."

Beth's eyes widened. "How is that possible?"

"He hates what he is, so he denies himself all of the major the things that are part of being a vampire."

"You mean like, fresh blood?'

"How did you know he doesn't drink fresh blood?"

"Well you said something about freshies remember?"

"Yeah, I do."

"And Josef's stay with him right?"

"Yeah." She was beginning to see where this was going.

"Well, I have never seen anyone in Mick's house besides him and Midnight."

"Makes sense, Mick get's most of his blood from the morgue."

"Ah, well that makes sense, ok so what else?"

"What do you mean what else?"

"What else is there besides the blood?"

"Oh, well there's as most of us call it 'The Sex Thing'"

"The Sex Thing, what's that?"

"Exactly what it sounds like." Beth snorted.

"You mean in however many years he's been a vampire he's never-"

"Not with a human, vampires not since he rescued you."

"Wow, ok I see what you mean by control, most guys can't do that, and a male vamps sex drive has got to be stronger than that."

"Try just plain vampire." Beth raised an eyebrow. "We females have it a lesser scale than our male counterparts, but it does increase slightly."

Beth was about to respond, but then Natasha parked the car.

"Ok, here we are." Beth blinked, and looked out the window. Sure enough, they were at Mick's place. "Come on, I want to see Mick's face when you walk through that door." She chuckled, and Beth smiled slightly, yes his face would be rather funny. They got out, and got in elevator.

"Ok, when we get up there, you wait her, I'll go in first, then after a few seconds, you come in, and I'll get a picture of his face."

Beth laughed. "You are so evil Tasha."

She smirked mischievously. "What can I say, I am Josef's sister."

Beth rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but he's just Josef, you are plain cruel."

Before Natasha could respond, the elevator came to a halt. When the doors opened, Natasha quickly went to Mick's door, and knocked.

When the door opened, she smiled brightly, and said all to cheerfully. "Hello Mick, can I come in."

"Yeah, now what is it you are planning?"

"Oh nothing."

Beth saw Mick shake his head. "I swear you are worse than Josef sometimes."

"Oh, is that a compliment?"

"No it most definitely is not, he's bad enough." Beth began walking forward, trying to be quiet, and hoping that Natasha kept him distracted enough so that he wouldn't notice her sneaking up behind him. When she got directly behind him she put her hands up in front of his eyes.

"Got you." Natasha quickly got in position to take Mick's picture as he turned around.

As Beth stepped back, his eyes widened, and his mouth dropped slightly. He took in the black neck band, extending down to the halter top, where is changed gradually to a deep blood scarlet. Then down to the black belted middle, and finally to the skirt of the dress, the same color as the top, that went to just above her knees and swayed as she walked.

A light flashed across his face, and he jerked his head up to stare at Natasha. His face was so funny, that both girls burst out laughing, and Natasha snapped the camera again.

He frowned slightly. "You planned this didn't you?"

Breathless, Beth nodded. "It-it was her-her idea." Another bought of laughter prevented her from continuing.

Natasha gained control of herself and said. "It was just too tempting."

"Oh really, how?"

"Well, I knew you're face would be funny after seeing her apparel." She gestured to Beth. "So I decide to take advantage of it." She smirked, looking quite pleased with herself.

"Well, you certainly did that well, didn't you." She nodded, and he shook his head, starting to grin slightly. "Why do I even bother?" He half asked himself. He turned back to Beth.

"Ok, so are we ready to go?"

"Almost, we just need a picture."

Mick groaned. "Another one?'

Beth nodded. "This one is of both of us, Maureen, my boss, seems to have it in her head to have a picture of us on my desk by this weekend, and this seems like the perfect opportunity, we've got the camera, and we've got someone to take it."

Mick looked back at Natasha, and raised his eyebrow.

"What I had nothing to do with this one."

"Yeah, sure you didn't"

"Konstantin's honor." Mick snorted.

"Oh, gee that makes me feel so much better."

"Are you comparing me to my brother, again?" Mick nodded, and Natasha sighed. "Well, I suppose I deserve that after planning this."

"Just this, I think there have been quite a few reasons for me to compare you with Josef, some going back to when I first met you."

"I'm hurt that you though so little of me." Then she laughed. "Come on, let's get this picture taken so we all can leave." Beth pulled Mick over to the window, and stood next to him.

Natasha walked over with the camera. "Say vampires."

Beth and Mick chorused. "Vampires!" There were several flashes, and then Natasha spoke.

"Ok, one of those should do."

Mick spoke quietly, but his voice was slightly hard. "Why did you have us say vampires Natasha?"

She looked up, slightly startled, and Beth interjected. "I told her to say that, it was the first case we worked on, and how we met." In her head she added, again. "So it just seemed appropriate."

"Ah. Well, should we go?"

"Yeah, we need to start looking around." The three headed toward the door, when Natasha suddenly said.

"Oh! I almost forgot, the file you asked me for, I'll put it on your desk."

"Oh, yeah, thank you I'll probably look at it when I get back."

"Ok, I'll go put it there now; you don't have to hold the elevator for me." She went back inside, and Mick pushed the button for the elevator to go down. Several seconds later, the doors dinged as they opened. Beth pushed to go down to the ground floor, and they waited for a few seconds.

When the got outside, Mick looked around. "So where's your car?"

"At my house, Natasha drove me here."

"Oh."

"We can stop there and pick it up if you want to." She hoped he wouldn't say yes, but she felt she had to put the option out there.

"No, it's fine, I was just…" He shook his head. "Come on, let's go." He led her over to his car, opened the door, and closed it behind her, then walked over, and got into his side.

As they drove off, Beth saw Natasha come out of the building, and waved to her, she waved back, and held up the camera. She laughed. Mick looked over at her.

"What?" She pointed. He looked back, and shook his head.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised she did that."

"Why not?"

"Cause she typically does stuff like that."

"Ah, now that, I'm not surprised about."

Mick chuckled. "I'm not surprised about that either.'

The rest of the ride past in silence.

Chapter 16

As the car slowly came to a halt, Beth went to open the door, but Mick said. "Wait."

Beth looked up, and Mick got out, went around of the other side of the car, opened the door for her, and held out his hand. She smiled, took it, and said. "And they say chivalry is dead."

"My mom brought me up rather old fashioned."

Beth didn't say anything, she had seen the sadness flash across his face, and knew that is mother must either be dead, or he hadn't seen her in a while. Both made sense, he had to be at least 50, including human years, so she would have to be rather ld. And when he was turned, Mick would have felt he had to give his family up. "I'm sorry." She said.

Mick looked up at her sharply. "What are you sorry for?"

"You seemed sad when you mentioned her, so I have to assume she's dead."

Mick nodded. "A little less than 30 years ago." Ok, either Mick was older than she thought, or his mother had died early in life.

* * *

Ok, there you go, oh can anyone figure out the pattern for the passwords? I forgot to say that before.


	16. Chapter 16

OK, here's the update. My summer is going to be very busy, so there might not be any updates for months, but I am trying to get extra chaptes typed so I have some back ups. Hey, those codes to get into Natasha's house, can anyone figure out how I came up with them?

* * *

Chapter 16

As the car slowly came to a halt, Beth went to open the door, but Mick said. "Wait."

Beth looked up, and Mick got out, went around of the other side of the car, opened the door for her, and held out his hand. She smiled, took it, and said. "And they say chivalry is dead."

"My mom brought me up rather old fashioned."

Beth didn't say anything, she had seen the sadness flash across his face, and knew that is mother must either be dead, or he hadn't seen her in a while. Both made sense, he had to be at least 50, including human years, so she would have to be rather ld. And when he was turned, Mick would have felt he had to give his family up. "I'm sorry." She said.

Mick looked up at her sharply. "What are you sorry for?"

"You seemed sad when you mentioned her, so I have to assume she's dead."

Mick nodded. "A little less than 30 years ago." Ok, either Mick was older than she'd thought, or his mother had died early in life.

"I'm sorry; you must have been very young." She paused, than asked. "Do you remember her much?"

"Sometimes I think I do, and others I don't even remember what she looked like." His voice was so depressed, that Beth dropped the subject at once.

"So what are we going to do?"

"Well, first we need to find Julia's car, we'll put a GPS on it so if Lee Jay decides to do anything, we will have at least a chance of finding her."

Beth nodded. "That's a good idea." She looked around, and saw the only car in the parking lot besides theirs looked like Julia's. "I think that's hers over there." She pointed. Mick walked over and stuck a GPS tracker on the bottom. "How soon do you think he will do anything?"

"I don't know; that's what I'm trying to figure out now." Mick stood up, looked at the building, and then back at Beth. "I'm going to have to ask you to stay here, I'll be back in a minute, but for now you have to stay by the car."

Beth frowned. "I am not staying in the car."

Mick smirked. "I didn't say you had to, I said you have to stay by the car."

"Technicality, so what, it's the same thing; I'm being left behind while the man goes off and does all the hard stuff, no thank you. Wherever you I'm going to follow so get used to it." Mick's smirk dies away.

"Beth, I really need you to say behind, just for a few minutes, I just don't think you'd want to ruin your dress."

Beth's eyes widened, he was trying to keep her out of the way while he did some vamp thing. Beth was still angry about being left behind, but now she was more sad that he didn't think he could trust her with his secret. "Fine, I'll stay, but if you're gone for more than five minutes, I'm coming in after you." She went back to Mick's car, and leaned against the side of it. She stood with her head downcast, trying not to get to upset over the fact that he still didn't trust her.

Mick stood for a moment, uncertain as to what he should do, then took off towards the building.

Beth looked up as he left, wishing she was going with him, and not being left back at the car.

Several minutes later, he was back. "Ok, so only Lee Jay and Julia are here as of right now, is there something that you want to do before anyone gets here?"

"Do you think I could talk to Lee Jay, I want to get the measure of him for myself."

"Beth I don't-"

"Did I ask your opinion? You didn't ask me for mine when you told me to stay by the car, so I'm not going to ask yours about this. Now I repeat, can I talk to Lee Jay?"

Reluctantly Mick nodded. "Yeah, but I don't want you going off alone with him."

Beth scoffed. "Do you really think I am that stupid? I'll talk to him when Julia is off doing something, but you're still there, he may act differently around me and you without her there."

Mick thought about that for a second. "It makes sense, come on, let's get in there before someone else shows up." He held out his arm, and Beth hesitated, she really wanted to take it, but she was still upset from before so she wasn't sure if she should. It couldn't do any harm if she did, but instead of taking his arm, she took his hand, and pulled him towards the front of the building. His expression was one of shock, and he looked slightly wary, but he followed her just the same.

They entered, and Beth looked around. The entrance was nicely decorated, and there was a pile of 'Wronged Man' on a table just to the right of the door. Mick looked around, his eyes jumping from one thing to the next.

"Come on, they're in here." He nodded towards a different room.

Beth shook her head, if she didn't know what he was she would be asking how-she probably should anyway; it wasn't in her nature to keep quiet when her curiosity was piqued, and she also wanted to see how he would answer. "How do you know that?"

Mick was silent for a moment, then said. "For one they're not in here, and two I have rather sensitive hearing."

That would be the understatement of the year if any of her research was correct, vampires could hear at least as well as a wolf, if not better. She would have to check with Natasha about that sometime…or Mick, if he ever got the nerve to tell her what he was.

They began walking towards the door, then Mick stopped, and wrinkled his nose in slight disgust, he seemed to have found some smell displeasing to him. His face was so funny, that Beth grabbed the camera the Natasha has slipped in her purse as she had walked by, and snapped his picture. He looked at her, and frowned. "I should have known she would have given you that." He was talking rather quietly for some reason.

Beth chuckled softly. "Yeah, probably, so what smells so bad?"

Mick seemed reluctant to explain. "Oh come on, please." She made a puppy face at him, and batted her eyelashes. "Tell me."

He sighed. "Well, I don't exactly smell it, I can hear what they're doing, and I don't think they would like company at the moment."

Beth's eyes widened. "You're kidding?" He shook his head. "Ok, let's go, we can come back in a few minutes." She grabbed his sleeve, and began pulling him towards the door.

"Oh, you don't want to stay?" She looked at him. "Do you want to?" His look of horror was answer enough. "Exactly, we can wait in the car, and this time you get to stay with me." She grinned mischievously.

He looked slightly wary. "Should I be worried?"

"I don't know, that depends on what you're afraid of." She started again for the door, and this time, he allowed himself to be dragged out the door.

"Well, I know I'm afraid of Natasha, and you are her best friend, so I would have to say I'm afraid of you."

"Aww, are you scared of sweet little innocent me?" She looked back at him, and pouted.

"Yes, I would have to say I am." She grinned.

"Good, then I guess I won't have to worry about you acting up." He raised an eyebrow, but she just smirked. They had reached the car, and Beth reached out to open the door, but Mick place a hand on her arm, and opened it for her. She smiled, and got in. He closed the door after she got in, walked around to the other side and got in. "So I guess we're just going to have to wait for a while."

"Yup." They sat there for a few minutes, then Beth had an idea.

"Hey, we never did finish our Twenty Questions game did we?" He shook his head. "Ok then, let's continue."

"Ok, fine, but I don't remember what question we were on, do you?"

"No." She frowned, trying to remember.

"Then I guess we'll just have to start with 10 again."

"Sounds good to me." Yes, she'd get to ask him even more questions.

"So, who's going to go first?"

"I don't care, you go." Then she'd get the last question.

"Ok, um…dang I can't think of any."

"Well, hurry up and do so, or we're no going to be able to do anything, people will be getting here soon." Mick thought for a moment.

"Ok, what was the most embarrassing thing you have ever done?" Beth bit her lip, should she? She decided not, she'd have to pick the less embarrassing one.

"Ok, well, it was a few years after I was kidnapped, and I saw this woman walking down the street, she had blond hair, but I didn't see that right away, all I saw was her white dress, I began running away, but I got caught in the crowd, and it pushed me into her. Immediately I began fighting as hard as I could, I screamed, I bit, I clawed, anything I could do to get away. My mom came and grabbed a hold of me, she was yelling at me for causing a scene, but I said that the Woman was there, The Scary Woman, she looked up, at the woman, who was completely confused. She remembered what the man who'd rescued me had said, the woman had had brown hair, and this woman was naturally blond. She told her to kneel down, and when I saw her hair, I stopped crying; I walked over to her, and said "It's not her Mommy." And then after my mom explained, we left." Beth gave a lopsided smile. "When I was in sixth grade I saw her again, she was my homeroom teacher. I walked up to her, and asked her what her name was, she looked surprised, but told me, it was Heather, and I blushed. She asked me what was wrong, and I told her who I was, we've kept in touch ever since. She was the one who told me I should go into journalism."

"Wow; that is rather awkward."

"Tell me about it, ok your turn."

"What?" His face was confused, but his eyes sparkled.

"What was yours?"

"Oh, that? Do I really have to tell you?"

Beth grinned. "Yes."

"Dang it, ok." He thought for a moment. "I don't really have one."

"Oh come one, there must be at least one." He was not going to wriggle his way out of this one.

"Yeah, there is, but I can't remember even half of it."

Beth raised an eyebrow. "Oh; and why is that?"

"I was at a bar and getting drunk." Beth pursed her lips, trying not to laugh. "Hey, no laughing at me."

"I'm not."

"Mmhmm, sure you're not."

"So who was with you?"

"Um, I think it was Josef, and Natasha, why?"

"So I can ask them what happened." Mick groaned.

"Oh great, they'll probably blow it way out of proportion."

Beth laughed. "I'm make her promise to tell the truth."

"Oh she'll tell the truth, just not all of it." Beth smirked, this story had better be good, seeing as how long she was going to have to wait to here it.

"Ok, then I'll have you there with us, that way you can tell me the parts you remember, deal?"

"Fine." Mick didn't sound completely reassured.

Beth looked out the window; people were beginning to show up. She sighed, not really wanting to leave the car now that Mick had opened up a little, but they should probably get going. "Come on, people are starting to come, let's hope they're done by the time everyone gets in." She shuddered slightly at the idea of finding Julia like that, but knew that it would be better if she found her, instead of someone else.

"Yeah, we should." He got out, walked around to Beth's door, and opened it. He held out his hand to help her out. She took it, and he pulled his hand away, Beth was confused, he hadn't done that before, why the change?

Mick led the way back into the building, and they were greeted almost immediately by Julia and Lee Jay. "Beth hi, I'm so glad you could come." She turned to look at Mick. "And who is-oh my." She stopped, her face shocked. "Beth, when you said alike, I thought you meant similar, but this is-they could be twins." Beth was getting very annoyed, she had wanted to stay away from this subject. "Did you ask-"

"Julia! I told you I wasn't going to, and I didn't, now leave drop it." She grabbed her arm and pulled her off to the side. "If Mick wants to tell me about his past I will accept it, no matter what it is, but I will not _force_ him to tell me."

"You don't know anything about him?" Beth frowned.

"No, why?"

"Beth what if he killed someone?" Beth stiffened.

"So what? If he did, then I'm sure he had a good reason for doing it, or it was an accident." In a way she was glad Julia had brought this up, because with his hearing, Mick could hear every word she was saying, even though they were several feet away and whispering. "Now are you done, or should we leave?" Beth knew her eyes were hard, and that she was being rather harsh with Julia, but she was not going to stand for Mick being uncomfortable, well any more uncomfortable that he already was anyway. Having someone there who knew what he was, and wanted him dead couldn't be very comforting,

"Alright, I'll stop." Julia and Beth walked back over to Mick and Lee Jay. Mick moved away slightly as Beth moved to stand next to him. He was looking at her questioningly, and Beth met his eyes without flinching. Mick looked away, and Beth felt that his past was part of the reason he was distancing himself from her. He didn't believe she would, or could accept what he was, and Beth was at a loss of how to explain that it really didn't matter, without disclosing the fact that she already knew.


	17. Chapter 17

Ok, sorry it took so long I got a tab bit behind on here, so you guys get two chapters instead of just one.

Ok, once again not mine.

* * *

Chapter 17

Beth walked around talked to some people she'd met while interning at some newspaper or other. Mick stayed near the back of the room, keeping watch as she walked around. After a half an hour, Beth walked back over to him. "Having fun?" She asked.

"Oh loads, I get to stand here, and watch people make fools of themselves."

She chuckled. "Yeah, I know, it can be rather boring at these types of events, but you wouldn't be quite so bored if you went with me."

"Nah, you've got better people to talk to, no need for me to tag along."

Beth frowned, and moved to stand in front of him. "Perhaps, but it's strange that I asked you to come with me, not them isn't it?" Mick didn't say anything, and Beth sighed. It seemed he had closed off for the night, and she obviously wasn't going to get anything out of talking to him. "Come on, there's got to be something you would rather be doing." She stared up at him, making her wyes slightly wider than normal; no one could resist her 'innocent look' as her mom had titled it. Mick looked at her, then looked away sighing.

"Alright, in a few minutes we'll go for a drive, how's that sound?"

Beth thought for a minute. It wasn't exactly what she'd been looking for, but Mick might open up more if they were away from the rest of the people here. She shrugged. "Ok, sounds good to me. Just let me say good bye to Julia, and we can be off." She headed over to Julia, who was talking to some guy over by the door. "Hey Julia, Mick and I are going to head out."

Julia looked at her. "Oh, ok, I'll see you sometime." Beth nodded, and looked at the man. He was tall, and broad shouldered; though not quite so much as Mick; dark brown hair, and dark gray eyes. It was they eyes that first caught her attention; they were cold, ice cold, and slightly amused. She nodded at him, and he just smirked. Beth frowned, who did this guy think her was? She held out her hand.

"I'm Beth Turner."

He looked at her hand with some distain and didn't put out his hand in return. "Yes, you're from Buzzwire." She got the distinct feeling that that wasn't where he knew her from. She put her hand down. "I'm Ethan LaFront." She nodded.

"Please to meet you."

His lip curled cruelly. "Likewise, Miss Turner." He reached out, took her hand, and kissed it, keeping his eyes on hers. Beth pulled her hand away quickly; she did not like this man. Then his eyes went to a spot above her head, and his eyes widened. Beth turned around, and bumped into Mick. He was standing right behind her, his eyes burning into Ethan's. "Well, well, well, looks like you finally came out of deigning what you are, and got yourself a fresh-" Beth had to force her heart to keep from speeding up, he was a vampire.

"Get out." Mick's voice was quiet, but his tone made it clear there was no arguing to be made. "On second thought, stay here, we were just leaving, as I have no doubt you heard."

"Yes, I did." He looked slightly unsettled at seeing Mick, but kept his cocky attitude. "Well, I suppose I shall be seeing the two of you at Josef's more often."

"No, you won't." Mick took Beth's arm, and pulled her towards the door. His pace was fast, and she had to run slightly to keep up.

"Mick, what's going on, who is her, why are we leaving?"

"You wanted to leave remember?"

"Well yes, but-" Beth realized she'd left the book back at the table. "Mick, stop, I have to go back; I left the book at the table." Mick stopped, looking torn.

"Go stand by the car, I'll go get it." He took of back the way they'd come.

Huffing at being told to stay by the car again, Beth headed over, and stood by the passenger side. As she stood, she got the feeling she was being watched. She turned around, Ethan was there. Beth stood straighter, and stared him in the eyes. She turned sideways under the pretense of turning so she could face him easier, but she was really taking her knife out of her purse, and opening it, it wouldn't do much, but it might hold him off until Mick got back.

"What do you want?"

Ethan laughed. "I was just wondering why you are with Mick, do you know what he is?" He flashed his eyes icy-white, and bared his fangs. Beth reacted immediately, she held out the knife at arms length, fighting to keep her pulse steady. She continued to stare him in the eyes. "My dear, I don't think a puny knife will do anything to me." Beth said nothing. "Why aren't you running?" She still said nothing, simply waited for him to attack, but he didn't, not yet at least. "Don't you know what I am?"

When she didn't reply yet again, he lunged at her, only to jerk backwards with a hiss as the knife sunk deep into his skin. He looked at, a small amount of shock in his eyes. "You do know what I am."

"Of course, how could I not, when one of your kind kidnapped me as a child?"

He was about to answer, when there was a noise from the building, and he took off running, Beth collapsed, the adrenaline that had kept her standing while he was there fading, and leaving her legs to weak to hold her weight.

Seconds later, Mick came running a break-neck speed towards her. "Beth, Beth what happened, what's wrong?!" She looked up at him, how could she explain this one away?

"Beth, did Ethan do anything?"

"Not, really, I stopped him." Mick froze.

"How did you stop him?"

"I took out my knife, when he tried to grab me, I stabbed him with it." Mick gave a sigh of relief, and helped Beth up.

"Come on, let's get you home." Beth took a step, but her legs were shaking too much to hold her up, so Mick picked her up, and placed her in the car. Leaning back against the seat, Beth felt herself starting to relax. Now that she was with Mick, and in his car, she was beginning to feel safe again. Ethan wasn't a vampire she wanted to mess with again.

As Mick started to drive away, Beth asked. "How do you know him?" Mick sighed.

"He was with Coraline not long before I was; he's never forgiven me to stealing her away from him." How old was this vampire?

"It was her choice to do what she did, not yours."

"Yeah, well, try telling him that."

"Did you?"

Mick nodded. "Too many times to count, but he's hell bent on getting back at me for taking her away from him."

Beth shook her head. "What a waste of time, both yours and his, I think it'd be better for both of you if you'd never met her."

Mick was silent for a minute. "You have no idea how many times I wish I hadn't." Beth turned to look out the window, in a way she was glad Mick had met Coraline, if he hadn't she would never have met him.

Deciding to change the subject, Beth asked. "So, what happened? All of the sudden it was like something happened, and then you came back, what was it?"

"I followed Lee Jay into the bathroom, and he started on about how he was going to get me; or something like that. Anyway, then he bangs his head into one of the windows, and his head got all scratched up and started to bleed. He went out, and said I did it."

"And they believed him?!"

Mick looked at her. "How many men do you know who would willingly hit their head on a window to frame someone?" Beth nodded, it was hard to believe, and if it were anyone other that Mick telling her this, she would laugh in their face. But she knew Mick wouldn't lie about something like this.

"So, where are we going now?"

Mick looked at her again. "Um, I don't know, do you have anywhere in mind?"

She shook her head. "No, none that I can think of anyway."

"Ok so how about I drop you off at your house and we can call it a night." Beth frowned, he wasn't going to get out of spending the rest of the evening with her.

"Nah, I've got nothing I have to do tomorrow so I don't need to get to bed on time." She grinned. "Why don't we go clubbing."

Mick raised an eyebrow. "Clubbing?"

She nodded. "Yup."

"At-" He looked at the time. "8:18?"

Ok, there goes that idea. "Yeah, it is a bit early, ok, let's get-" Nope, that idea won't work either, he can't eat. "Um…we can finish our game."

"Nah, I think I'll pass, and anyway, you need to get that story from Natasha, remember."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean we can't continue before I do."

"Yes it does."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

Beth grinned, perfect. "Yes."

"N-Yes!" She burst out laughing.

"Got you!"

"Yeah, well you said yes first so there."

"It doesn't matter; we can play some other time." She thought for a minute, then came up with an idea. "Are you good at organizing?"

"Um…organizing what?"

"Case files, I love putting them in order, it's so fun." Maybe if she came across hers she could get him to tell her.

"Um, no mine are in fine order as they are." Dang it.

"Ok then. Hmm." She was coming up with nothing; her thoughts kept going back to the clubbing idea. "Why don't we stop at my house, we can talk for a while, I'll change, and we can go clubbing when it's more the clubbing time, how's that?"

Mick sighed. "You really want to go clubbing?"

She grinned, he was starting to cave. "Yeeesss."

He sighed. "Ok, I know where a few are."

"Oh no, you are coming with me to one of the new clubs I've heard about, I've been wanting to get in there and investigate some shady dealings have been happening there, but you need a person to go with, and you need to be up to club standard."

"What club is this?"

"It's called Valis."

Mick thought for a second. "Ok, fine."

Beth clapped, and grinned. "Good, so let's get to my house." Mick turned around, and headed to Beth's house.


	18. Chapter 18

Ok, next chapter. And then I won't know when it will be updated next, although I do think you guys can at least get an idea of what they will be doing in SB...I'll let you guys think it over, and Evilous, you can't tell them, or give any hints.

Ok, this time I've got a few more disclamers to give. I do not own either PotO (Phantom of the Opera sniff), B&B (Beauty and the Beasy sniff), or The Hunt for Red October...or ML...except Tasha and...grr Ethan, although if anyone wants him you can have him. lol

* * *

Chapter 18

As they pulled onto Beth's street, Mick turned to her. "Um…Beth?"

She turned to look at him. "Yeah?"

"Why do you need to change? I mean, what you have on should be good enough right?"

Beth looked down at the dress she was wearing. "Yeah, but-"

"But nothing, why are we here?"

"Because you said we can't go clubbing at…8:18 and it's only 8:26 now."

"Fine, I guess we can wait until 9:00, and then we can go, ok?"

"Yup." Mick parked the car, and got out to open her door. Beth shook her head slightly.

"Mick, what is going to happen when you, for some reason, can't open the door for me?"

"Well, I'd probably have to um...I don't know, why don't you pick seeing as it's you who's not receiving the courtesy."

Beth grinned. "Alright, how about I pick it when it happens."

"You mean if it happens right?"

Beth smirked, looked at him, and raised an eyebrow. "Mick, eventually I will open the door for myself, and you will just have to deal with it." She laughed softly. "Besides, I don't think you'll argue too much with my form of punishment, I'm not very good at holding grudges." Then she thought of Coraline. "Well, not to my friends anyway." She led the way onto into her house, and through to the living room where they had sat before, only this time, she sat down on the couch next to him.

"Oh really, well for some reason that doesn't make me feel any better." Beth grinned, now she'd just have to think of one. "Well to put your mind at a little easy, I won't ask Tasha for help when I need to pick one."

"You won't need to ask, she'll just offer them up once she finds out."

"Well, what if I don't tell her?"

Mick frowned thoughtfully. "Well, I suppose that would work, but knowing you, you'll tell her anyway."

Beth's mouth dropped open. "And just how do you know this?" Mick's eyes widened, and Beth realized that he had just realized what he said, and recognized it at something he wasn't supposed to know, so she gave him an easy way out. "Did Natasha tell you?" When he didn't say anything, she said, making sure she sounded aggravated. "Grrrr! I told her not to tell anyone, I guess she is not one I am going to tell secrets to." Mick gave a weak chuckle.

"No she is not, trust me on this one, she can not keep secrets to save her-" He broke off, frowning. "Well, I supposed she could to save her life, or someone else's, but other than that, she can't keep secrets." Beth understood more that Mick thought, Natasha had to be able to keep secrets at least to save her life…or she wouldn't be alive.

She smirked. "Well, that's a good thing. I'd be scared if she couldn't keep a secret to save her own life." Mick smiled weakly.

Beth stood up. "Um…do you want a drink?"

Mick shook his head. "No thank you." She sat back down, wondering what she should say.

"Meow." Phantom came ambling in, looking as though he had just woken up from a nice cat nap, as the fur on his right side was all flattened. He walked over, and jumped onto Mick's lap, then plopped down, purring.

Beth laughed. "Apparently he doesn't want you to leave."

"No, I guess not." Mick gently stroked him, and Phantom laid his head down contentedly. "I can't imagine why though." Beth could tell that Mick wasn't being sarcastic; he really had no idea why anyone wouldn't want him to leave.

"Maybe because I don't want you to leave, and he's very sensitive to what I want." Mick looked at her, his eyebrow raised. "What?"

"I highly doubt that."

"Well, then maybe he just likes you."

Mick shook his head in a way that said he didn't believer he, but didn't feel like arguing at the moment. "Anyway, so what are we going to do until 9:00?"

"Um…" Beth looked at the time, it was 8:37 "Well…we could…um…I have no ideas, you?"

"Um…watch a movie."

Beth thought for a moment. "But then we wouldn't be able to leave at 9:00"

"So, we can leave at 10:00, the clubs are still open." Beth smirked.

"Of course they are, and actually that would probably be a better time to get there anyway, so what do you want to watch?" She got up and walked to her cupboard of DVDs.

"You pick, I haven't watched anything new, so you probably won't have anything I've seen." She turned to him, raised an eyebrow, and held up a movie. "You have 'The Hunt for Red October'?" He asked, slightly incredulous.

"Yeah, why?"

"Cause it's one of the few movies I've watched."

"Ah, did you like it?"

"It's got Sean Connery in it, need I say more?"

Beth grinned. "Nope."

"Didn't think so, is that what we're watching?"

She shook her head. "No, I was just checking to see if you'd seen that, if you hadn't we would be, but seeing as you have we'll watch something-" She broke off, looking at a movie in her hands; she looked at Mick, then back at the movie. She took it out of it's case, and slid it into the DVD player, and walked back to the couch. She picked up the remote, and sat back down.

"Okay." Mick dew out the word. "So, what are we watching?"

Beth nodded her head at the screen, where a candle was starting to come into view. The words 'Phantom of the Opera' came to the screen, and Mick nodded.

"So we're watching Erik's story?"

Beth looked at him, frowning. "Who's Erik?"

Mick rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you never read the book. Erik is The Phantom's name."

"Oh, I started it, but couldn't finish it; I hate it when authors interject every few paragraphs telling how they found out all the information."

Mick laughed. "No, not the original, the other one, by Suzan Kay."

"There's a different one?'

"Yeah, and it's a lot better than Leroux's version."

"Well, I'll have to fins myself a copy then; I love this movie, and the storyline behind it. A man, who's supposedly a monster finding someone to love and someone who loves him back." She blushed. "Is it a coincidence that my favorite movie as a pre-teen was Beauty and the Beast?"

"I remember when that came out, everyone was buying a copy, and why is it a coincidence?"

"It's basically the same idea, only his, well disfigurement was his attitude, and his ugliness was caused by an enchantment." She added as an after thought. "And it has a happier ending."

"Well, it was made for kids, so that does make sense."

"Yeah, I wish this one ended like that though, but then again, that was how society was back then, I don't think I would have survived."

"Yes you would, you're strong enough."

"Yeah, but that's what would have been my downfall, I wouldn't have been able to do what society demanded."

"Well, then I guess you'd just have to find some recluse who shuns society and marry him."

"Or just someone tall, dark and handsome." She ginned as he looked away. If he could, Beth was sure he would be blushing by now.

"I think we'll keep you in this century. You fit better."

"Yeah, I-oh, it's starting." The music had started and Beth leaned back into the cushion to watch. "I love the music to this, it's so, I don't know, I just love it."

As the movie played, Beth slowly migrated towards Mick, until she was half laying on his shoulder, and Phantom was sprawled across both their laps.

Beth knew that she would probably drive Mick up the wall on the drive to Valis, she wouldn't be able to help it. This movie always made her so sad, and yet so angry, she adored Christine's character, but felt she should have been strong enough to break away from Raoul, and go with The Phantom. But she also felt so sad, because The Phantom was always so lonely, and his song 'No One Would Listen', the rooftop scene and the end always made her cry. And then the end song, 'Child Of The Wilderness' always made her lose it completely.

The movie ended, with Beth in tears, about 50 tissues on the couch next to her, and Mick trying to comfort her.


	19. Chapter 19

Ok, here it is, it's rather short, but I felt this was a good place to end.

You know the drill, not mine...except Tasha and (yeah, I hate him too) Ethan.

* * *

Chapter 19

Beth blew her nose one more time as the credits finished and the screen returned to the main menu. "Sorry, that movie always makes me teary."

Mick shrugged. "It's alright; it is a rather hard hitting movie."

Beth tried to smile. "Thanks for not for freaking out like most guys would in a situation like this."

Mick smiled. "I had practice, my mother and sister were always crying at the slightest things, and Natasha isn't much better."

Beth smiled, abet it was slightly sad. "You said your sister was; is she dead as well?"

He nodded, but he'd hesitated just enough that Beth could see he was lying; she was dead to him, as he was a vampire, or perhaps he was dead to her. "Yeah, same thing as my mom."

"I'm sorry." But she was quite sure he had been telling the truth about his mother dying, oh well, she'd ask Natasha when she next saw her, hopefully she would be able to explain.

"It's alright, I've gotten used to their not being around, and Natasha's helped a lot."

"That's good, but no one can replace them. And it has got to be hard."

"Some days are worse than others."

Beth nodded. "Yeah, I feel the same way about my dad, he died about four years ago, car accident, the pain never goes away, but eventually it gets so you can think about the good times without bursting into tears."

He nodded again. "Yeah." He looked at the clock; it was 10:58. "Well, the movie lasted longer that I expected, it's almost 11:00"

Beth gave a lopsided smile. "I knew it was a long movie, and I think I prefer this to clubbing anyway."

"You little minx."

Beth grinned. "I prefer vixen, cat or vampiress thank you very much." Mick looked up at her, shock written on his face. "What?"

"You-what?"

"What did I say?"

"Vampiress."

"Oh, well you said some people actually find vampires attractive, so what…I mean come on, there's vampires, but that's masculine…or just the 'blood sucking undead' in general, so the females need their own name, and I've decided it vampiresses." Mick relaxed as he realized she was 'just joking'. Little did he know that she was quite serious.

"Now that's a mouthful. Ok, so where did that vixen come from then? I don't think they have anything to do with vampires."

Beth laughed, happy to see him joking about it. "No, I've just always loved foxes." Mick frowned, and Beth raised an eyebrow. "What, don't tell my you don't know that a vixen is-"

"A female fox, yes I know that, just not many people do, how did you find that out?"

Beth thought for a moment. "I think…I think I was reading a book about a fox, and it had vixen in it, and I just figured it out from there. I did look it up several years later, just to be sure." Beth suddenly chuckled, fighting to keep down a blush as she remembered what one of the other definitions was.

Mick picked up on her chuckle immediately. "What?"

Beth shook her head, she could stand talking about vampiresses, and such, but she wasn't about to discuss the definition of vixen with him…not just yet at least. "Nothing, I just thought of something."

"What?"

"I'll tell you some other time." Mick must have sensed that she wasn't budging on this, because he didn't ask again.

"So, are we going clubbing or not?"

Beth was silent for a moment. "What are you going to do if I say no?"

"Well…I guess I'd just go home, or was there something you'd like to do." He shook his head. "Never mind, I'm sure you want to get to sleep, I mean, it is only an hour before midnight."

Beth shook her head. "No, I'm not really that tired." If he left she'd get tired and go strait to bed, but half because she had nothing else to do, and half because he wasn't there to keep her alert. "I guess you could say I'm rather like vampires in that respect, I like the night more than the day, besides, most of the crimes happen at night, so it's better if I'm up at that time."

"Why do you prefer the darkness?'

"I never said darkness, I said night."

"That's the same thing."

"No, not the same thing, but yes, very similar. Both can be dangerous, but the night beautifully so, and it can protect, the darkness is a part of the night." Mick frowned, and Beth huffed slightly. "Didn't you even watch that movie?"

Now Mick looked confused. "Yes I watched it, why do-what does the movie have to do with this?"

Beth rolled her eyes. "Does 'Music of the Night' right any bells?"

"It's a song that The Phantom sings, why?"

"It describes what I'm trying to tell you. 'The darkness of the music of the night'. It's one of the lines; the darkness is a part of the music, specifically the 'music of the night'." Obviously this wasn't making her point very well, so she changed angles. "Ok, what is the difference between Erik, and The Phantom?"

Mick sighed. "The Phantom is a part of Erik, something he made up to enable him to take charge of the opera house without the threat of being found out."

"Ok, good, what else?"

"Erik, when he is acting like himself, not as The Phantom, seems to be more human, more safe?" He half asked, half stated the last part.

Beth nodded eagerly. "Yes! Ok, so we've established that The Phantom is a part of Erik right." He nodded. "And that Erik is not as dangerous as The Phantoms, right." He nodded again. "Ok, so it's the same thing with the night and the darkness, um, Erik loves Christine, right?"

"In his own way, yes he does."

"But when he takes on the roll of The Phantom she becomes his obsession instead."

"I supposed so, yes."

"Ok, so the light for Erik is his love for Christine, the light for the night, is the moon, it penetrates the darkness, just like Erik's love for Christine, penetrates The Phantom. There are times when Erik loses control of The Phantom. Just like when the night loses control of the darkness, like on new moon, or on a cloudy night, but Christine always manages to get through to him eventually."

Slow comprehension dawned in Mick's eyes; he was starting to understand what she was trying to say. "I think I get it. It's kind of like the night is tempting, and you can allow yourself to give into it, as long as you don't lose yourself to the darkness, which makes it so tempting, right?"

"Yes, and besides, how can you have day, without night; how can you have the night, without the darkness; how can you have Erik, without The Phantom? You can't, they're connected, you can't have one, without the other. Erik wouldn't be Erik, without his darkness to go with him, and you definitely can't have The Phantom without having Erik first, because The Phantom is a part of him. Same with the night and darkness"

Beth silently rejoiced, she was starting to get through to him, maybe when she told him, or he found out, he wouldn't be so hard to convince that she didn't care. She sighed, content for now.

Mick stood up. "So…am I leaving, or did we not decide on that?"

"Are you asking me two questions, or one?"

"I think two."

"Ok, well then, no to your first one, and when you asked you second question was no, but now it is yes."

"Am I staying or not?"

Beth rolled her eyes, stood up, put her hands on Mick shoulders, pushed him back down onto the couch, then sat down on his lap, Mick couldn't move without risking her falling onto the floor. "Does that answer you're question?" Wordlessly Mick nodded.

"Good." She leaned back, resting her head on his chest, she felt Mick stiffen, but she didn't move away. Finally, Mick moved so she was sitting next to him, her head still resting on his shoulder, and put one are around her carefully, as if afraid she would pull away, when she burrowed closer, and pulled his other arm around her as well. Beth hid a smile as she did so, her plan had worked perfectly. The movie was just what they had both needed to get some, not all, but some things, out into the open.

As the time passed, she began to feel slightly tired, and closed her eyes. She jumped slightly when Phantom jumped up to once again lay across their laps, but then relaxed back against Mick's side. Several minutes later, Beth fell asleep, leaving Mick his racing thoughts.

Well, the PotO is just about done in here...except for in SB, I mean come on, when you go there, it's like mandatory that you go see PotO the musical.


	20. Chapter 20

Ok, here it is.

Not mine, as you well know.

Chapter 20

Beth woke up as the thing she was sleeping against moved. Mumbling, she burrowed in further to the softness, and warmth of the overcoat….wait, overcoat? Beth opened her eyes, then relaxed, it was Mick, she must have fallen asleep against him. She smiled slightly, and raised her head to look at him.

His eyes were clenched shut, and the muscles around his mouth were working frantically. Beth sighed, his fangs must have come out, and his eyes changed. Pretending to have no idea was going to be hard from now on, but she still wasn't sure how to tell him, it wasn't something you could just blurt out. "Hey." Mick jerked his head, is a slight nod, then slowly opened his eyes, they were slightly pale, but Beth was sure that if she hadn't been looking for it, she wouldn't have noticed. "What's wrong?"

There was a slight pause, then he said. "My arm is asleep." Beth knew that vampire limbs couldn't 'fall' asleep, so she knew she was correct in guessing that his 'morning feeding' needed to be taken care of soon. Beth sighed, as this meant he had to leave, although she didn't want him to, she knew it was for the best.

"Oh, I'm sorry." She sat up, he removed his arm from the couch behind her, and stood up.

He turned to face the window. "I guess I should be leaving."

"You don't have to."

"Yes, I do." She walked to the door, but Phantom stood before it, obviously not wanting him to leave. Beth walked over to him, and picked him up.

"Sorry about that, he doesn't seem to want you to leave." Still he didn't look at her. Speaking instead to her cat, she said. "He'll be back, don't worry." Phantom gave a pitiful meowl in response.

Mick opened the door, and quickly walked out, but Beth called out. "I'm claiming a rain check for our clubbing night you know." Absently he nodded, and Beth wasn't sure if he'd even heard a word of what she'd said in the past few minutes.

She headed back in, set Phantom down, and headed back to the couch, with Phantom in tow, who apparently decided it was time to follow her everywhere again. He jumped onto the couch, and curled up next to her, and fell asleep within seconds. Beth grabbed her phone, and called Natasha.

"Hey, so how did last night go?"

"Much better than this morning?" There was silence on the other end. "Hey, Tasha, are you still there?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm still here. Wait, are you saying that Mick stayed there last night?"

"Yeah, we fell asleep on the couch."

There was a pause. "Why were you two on the couch?"

Beth laughed. "Because we were watching Phantom of the Opera."

"Really?! Which one?"

"The newest version."

"Aww, sweet! What was your favorite part?"

"Um…do I have to chose just one?"

Natasha laughed. "Nope, that is a good enough answer for me, although I have to ask you, do you like the ending?"

"If you mean Christine kissing Erik, then no, if you mean her leaving with Raoul, then yes."

Beth could hear Natasha's sigh of relief. "Oh thank goodness you're not one of those crazy Raoul lovers."

Beth almost gagged, and Natasha laughed. "Don't like that idea do you?"

"NO!"

"Good, or I'd have to kill you…very slowly too."

"Trust me; I think I'd kill myself if I ever let that happen."

"Oh, I know the feeling, how about this, if I ever turn over to the dark side, you can stake me, and vice versa."

"Wait, I'm not-"

"Not yet, and if you aren't at the time, well then…I'll have to…convince your editor to give you fluff stories until you return to the side of the light."

Beth almost shouted. "Oh no! Not fair, that is just wrong!"

"I know." Beth could hear the grin in Natasha's voice. "That's why I said it. So, what happened after you watched Phantom?"

"Well, we had a bit of a discussion about night, darkness and Erik." She went on to tell her everything they had discussed. "By the time we were done, I felt like a psychiatrist, but I was so relieved that I got Mick to accept what I was saying, and basically, the relief made me tired, and I fell asleep."

"Ok, that doesn't explain why Mick was there the whole night."

"Oh, I fell asleep on his shoulder."

"Of course, he wouldn't want to wake you, so he didn't move."

"This morning, I'll bet he went strait home to get some blood, he barely spoke and the few times he did he didn't look at me. Well, actually after he stood up, he didn't look at me at all."

"His eyes., and being around you probably made the whole thing a lot worse. Normally he's in his freezer all night, but last night he wasn't, and he was around you, so his blood lust went way up, and he needed to get out before he either showed you, or did something he would later regret."

"Yeah, I know that, but he, doesn't know that I know. So…I'm going to have to act all depressed and mad at him for leaving o quickly, or else he'd-"

"Yes, I know." Natasha was quiet for a moment. "I really hope all of this comes out soon, cause this whole keeping a secret thing, is really starting to get hard."

Beth sighed, she had been waiting for this. "Tasha, I know. You think it's hard, look at it from my perspective. I finally found my Guardian Angel, but I can't tell him that I know, or tell him how much he means to me, because one, he'd leave, we both know that, and two because he'd never believe me if I just told him, I'd have to see him completely vamped out, and not show the slightest amount of fear, or-"

She broke off, took a deep breath, and finally said what she wanted to. "Ok, after all this stuff with Lee Jay is over and done with, I will tell him, no questions asked. If he chooses to leave, then so be it, I'll have you help me find him, but the lying and the secrets are over, they're done."

"Are you sure about this Beth?"

"No, but I'm going to do it anyway."

"Ok, then I'll trust you."

Beth was quiet, then said. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For saying that you trust me."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I know you do, but…sometimes it's nice to hear someone say it."

Natasha said nothing to that, and both knew that they were understood. "So, when are you going to see him next?"

"I don't know." Suddenly she realized she needed to get the story written up. "Oh crap, Tasha, can you do me a favor?"

"What?"

"Ask Mick what happened at the party after I left."

"Why did you leave before him? He had the car, how did you get home?"

"I had left my book on the table, Mick went back to get it, and I, again, waited by the car…but that didn't help very much." As she thought about last night, she remembered Ethan, who was he?

"Why didn't it help very much?"

"I went over to tell Julia that we were leaving, and she was talking to someone, Mick was next to me in seconds, apparently this guy, Ethan, a vampire, was with Coraline before-"

Natasha interrupted her. "Wait, Ethan, Ethan who?!"

"Um, something French, LaFant, LaFont, um…"

"LaFront?!"

"Yeah, who-"

"He is a vampire you don't want to mess with." There was vulnerable tone in her voice that Beth didn't like.

"I know that, he came up to me while I was by the car, I got him to leave by using my knife, the one I had when Daniel attacked me before. He did vamp out, and that's when I got him with the knife, then Mick showed up, he didn't know that Ethan he vamped out in front of me, so he didn't question it when I said I used my knife."

"Beth, you need to tell Mick before this thing with Lee jay is over with, Ethan can and will cause problems if you don't."

Tasha, who is he?" Beth could tell that this vampire had done something to he friend, she didn't know what, but she didn't like the idea of him being anywhere near her friend.

"He's my other, disowned, brother."

"He's-what?"

"I know, it's rather unbelievable, but he is. Josef and I broke ties with him about…300 years ago. He took the name LaFront soon after."

"But-how, Mick never said, he only-"

"That's because almost no one knows, you Mick, and one other person are the only people, besides Ethan Josef and I, who know."

"Who else knows?"

Natasha sighed. "I'd tell you, but it's not my story to tell."

"Can you tell me whose story it is?"

"It's Josef's, and he's not likely to tell you, I don't think Mick even knows about her."

"So it's a girl."

"Yes."

"So…how does Josef know her?"

"They met at a train station; I can't tell you any more, I'm sorry."

"No, it's all right; I don't want you to break your brother's trust."

"Thank you."

"So when would you recommend I tell Mick?"

"As soon as possible."

"Ok, I'll do it today."

"Good idea. I'll let Mick know you're coming by later."

"No, that's all right, I'll let him know."

"Ok; and Beth."

"Yeah?"

"Good luck."

"Thank you, I'm sure I'll need it later." Beth put her phone away, and took a deep steadying breath.

She got up, and headed towards her bedroom, Phantom following her the whole way. She took off the dress, and headed for the shower. She just sat there, letting the water beat down on her.

She barely even noticed when the water started to turn cold, then she felt something nudge her leg. It was Phantom, drenched, and looking thoroughly depressed at being wet, but still trying to see what was making her just sit here like this. It was so bizarre, that Beth started to laugh, and then came the tears. She picked him up, and cried into his fur.

Several minutes later, the water was freezing, she was all pruney, and Phantom was starting to shiver from the cold. She turned of the water and wrapped him up in a towel before drying herself off. Of course, he didn't cooperate, and wriggled out of the towel, and shook himself, trying to get rid of the water clinging to his fur.

She quickly toweled him slightly dry with towel he had discarded, and then dropped him on her bed. He lay there, just watching her. When she left to get some breakfast, he jumped down, and resumed following her. She got out the milk, the cereal, but couldn't bring herself to poor into the bowl. Finally she put it all away, grabbed a granola bar, and tossed some food into Phantom's bowl. He didn't eat either; he simply continued to follow her around the house.

Stuffing the bar into her bag, Beth grabbed her keys and phone, and headed out to her car. If she was going to tell Mick, she should do it now, before she lost her nerve.

Taking a deep breath she hit the speed dial for Mick. As the phone rang, she bit her lip, forcing herself to not hang up.

"Beth? Is something wrong?"

Try as she might, she couldn't keep her voice from shaking. "Can-can I talk to you? I-I need to tell you something. It doesn't need to be right now, just some time today."

"Um, yeah sure, how about in two hours, Josef called; apparently he needs to see me about something."

"Yeah, sure." She hung up, angry with herself for not saying she needed to talk to him now, and for feeling relief that she had a few hours to prepare. A voice in her head taunted her, you coward; you can't even tell him the truth. Now she had nothing to do for the next few hours. Deciding she would give him and hour before waiting at his flat for him, she called Natasha.

"You can't have told him already."

"No, I need the password to get into his house. I'm going to wait there for him."

"Oh, ok, it's 421-MESJ-Mdngt."

"Ok, thanks." She drove to the block Mick lives on and park on the other side. She'd wait here until it's time to walk over.

As she punched in the password, she tried to keep her mind from thinking about what she's planning to do, but it doesn't work. Her mind is filled with images of Mick leaving, of her never seeing him again, of the look of betrayal on his face when he realizes she had lied to him all along.

All these thoughts disappear as I walk in…and see Lee Jay standing by the sink, bags of blood sitting on the counter, and more sitting in what appears to be a hidden freezer.


	21. Chapter 21

Ok, here you guys go. The PBs wouldn't leave me alone today, so you guys get luck.

Um...you know strange thing, in the past...6-7 hours since I last updated, I haven't mysteriously bought moonlight, so, what d' ya know, still not mine.

* * *

Chapter 21

"Well hello, I remember you, you're um…Beth, Beth Turner, you're friends with Julia, right?"

Weakly, she nodded. "Yes, yes I am."

"Ah, lovely to see you again." He nodded towards the bags sitting on the counter. "I'd suggest you leave before things get nasty."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that you're friend is not what you think he is."

"What do you mean 'what' he is."

"He's not like us, he's different, he's a monster."

Beth walked over under the pretense of looking at what was on the counter, but once over there quickly brought her knife up to his chin. "Now, put the gun on the floor, and kick it away, don't make any sudden movements, or you will die. I don't think anyone will have any problems believing me when I tell them that you attacked me, I mean, there is a gun on the floor, and once you're dead I ca put it in your hand, I just defended myself, now do what I said!"

Slowly he set the gun on the ground, but before he could kick it, Beth jerked it up into her hands, careful to not actually touch it, holding it carefully in her jacket, before putting the knife away, and pulling out a piece of cloth to hold it with. She backed away, and leveled the gun at his chest. "Now, put all the blood in that bag right there." She gestured with her free hand at a bag lying on the floor

He moved to do so. "Make sure you get all of it, including all of it that is in the freezer."

"So you do know what he is?"

"Of course I do."

"But you're not like him are you?"

"No, now shut up, and put the rest of it in there." Careful to not move the gun too much, Beth pulled out her phone, she hit the spead dial for Natasha.

"What now? He's here at the moment, so I-"

"Natasha, shut up and listen, I'm at Mick's house, Lee Jay is here, and I'm making him put…everything in a bag, I'm going to try and get it all out, but if I can't, I need you to be ready to get Mick away." She was barely breathing the words out, knowing that Natasha would be able to hear her no problem.

"How are you making him put everything in there?"

"Um…I got a gun away from him, I think it's Mick's."

"What? Beth you need to get out of there, that guy is dangerous."

"So am I." Beth said grimly.

"Be careful, I'll try and keep Mick from leaving."

"Yeah, good idea, bye." She set it in her bag carefully, easily in her reach, in case Natasha needed to call her back.

She looked around, all the blood was in the bag, and she had watched to make sure he hadn't hid any away while putting the rest in the bag like she'd asked. "Ok, now kick it across to me." He did, she picked it up, and backed away slowly. Once she reached the door, she threw the gun into the other room, away from both of them, slammed the door shut, and ran, pulling out her knife as she did so.

Frantically she pressed the button for the elevator, but the light showed her it was at the bottom, it would get here soon enough. She took off for the stairs, half jumping, half falling down them. She was barely a floor down when she heard the door open. She frantically sped up, but she didn't hear him on the stairs, he was at the elevator. If he got down before her, she'd be trapped until Mick got there, and this wasn't exactly how she'd intended for him to find out.

Instead of hearing the door close, she heard someone being thrown against the wall, and Lee Jay yell. "What, don't trust you're little girlfriend to get everything out before the police come, huh? If you want to grab everything from her, she'd just down the stairs."

Oh shit! Giving up on running, she hoisted herself up onto the railing, and slid down. She had to keep getting back on at every turn, but it was still faster. If Mick decided to try and catch her however, she had no chance.

There was a bang, someone had shot the gun, it Mick have been Lee Jay, he mush have grabbed the gun before heading after her. Fighting the urge to go see if Mick was all right, she continued downward. She had reached the lobby when her phone rang, she answered without pausing to see who it was.

"What?"

"Beth get out of there, Mick left ten minutes ago, and I didn't know!"

"I know, he's upstairs with Lee Jay, I'm almost to my car, hold on." She hurried to her car, and started to drive. "Ok, I've got everything with me, and anything that I missed Mick will get…right?"

"Yeah, Mick won't let anything say, but Beth, what if he smells you?"

"Were you there earlier?"

"Yes."

"Then say you took it, please, I'll tell him when I see him, but please let me tell him later. I can say I went there to wait for him, but Mo called so I had to leave, it's that simple."

"All right, I don't like it, but I'll do it."

"Thank you! Now, what do you want me to do with all that blood?"

"Um, can you keep it for now?"

"Yeah, I've got a hidden freezer at home."

"Ok, then keep it there. Now, what did you do with the gun?"

"I threw it away from both of us, I couldn't risk having it and him catching me, and getting it back, in fact, I think that's what saved me, he went to get-oh no, I think he shot Mick!"

"What, Beth, what are you talking about?!"

"I was almost downstairs, and I heard a shot, but I couldn't go up to check, if I'd been found at a crime scene, with bags of blood with me, what do you think you had happened?"

"True. Ok, get home, I'll call Mick, and tell him I've got the blood, then we'll go from there, ok?"

"Yeah, bye." She hung up, and drove as fast as she could towards home.

Beth rushed inside, hurried downstairs, went to the corner directly across from the stairs, and pressed one of the boards inward. It swung out and then folded in on itself. Beth quickly put in the combination, and a door opened on the other side of the room. She closed the board, and hurried to it. She tossed the bag inside, and shut it quickly.

Heading back upstairs she almost tripped as Phantom came hurtling down towards her. Picking him up and continuing to run up the stairs, Beth wondered how soon Natasha would call.

As if waiting for this, her phone rang.

"Yes?"

"Ok, I told him, but I don't know if he believes me or not, I'd suggest you take a shower now, in case he decides to stop bye."

"Ok, I'll get right in once we've finished. Was he shot?"

"No, Lee Jay shot himself, then called the police saying that he was shot by Mick."

"What?!"

"Now they're out looking for him, Josef is on his way to see him now."

"Ok, I'll let you know if he shows up."

"Yeah, and did you find out what happened last night?"

"Yeah, apparently Lee Jay smashed his head into a window in the bathroom and then said Mick did it."

"What?!"

"I know, so this is just going to make it seem worse when the media get's a hold of him claiming Mick shot him."

"Yeah, I know. I just hope we can prevent anything more from happening."

"Yeah, me too, I'll call you if I see him, bye."

"Yeah." Beth tossed her phone onto the couch, and headed upstairs to take her second shower of the day. This time, Phantom neglected to join her, preferring to sit in the bathroom to wait for her to finish.

Done, she dried her hair, dressed, and headed downstairs. Her phone rang again, it was Mo.

"Beth, ok, you are so lucky."

"What?"

"You're 'friends' with Mick St. John, right?"

"Yeah."

"So talk to him, get an exclusive, ask him why he shot Lee Jay."

"He didn't!"

"Oh, then how is Lee Jay in the hospital getting a bullet removed from his shoulder?"

"He shot himself, just like he smashed his head last night."

"Beth, I think you're a little to close to Mick to see the truth, why would someone smash their head into a window, much less shoot themselves?!"

"Mo, I know it's hard to believe, but I don't think Lee Jay was ever innocent of the crimes he was imprisoned for."

"Beth, you're right it is hard to believe, and I don't, but I know it won't do any good to try and change your mind."

"You're right it won't; now if you don't mind, I have to keep on the look-out for Mick."

"Beth, you do know he's wanted right?"

"Yes, I know."

Mo sighed. "Ok, well, good luck, and Beth you know you can talk to me, right?"

"Yes, but I think I'll talk to someone who also believes Mick didn't do anything."

"All right then, bye." She hung up, and Beth set the phone down, before throwing a pillow across the room.

Needing an outlet, she headed downstairs, and began to literally shred the dummies with anything she happened to grab; be it a knife, dagger, or the one sword she kept down there.

20 minutes later had her sweating, starting to tire, but showing no signs of stopping. She did stop when she heard the knock on her door. She hurried to the door, still clutching the dagger she had just used to tear into one of the dummy's gut.

"What the-" It was Mick, and he was looking at the dagger in her hand questioningly.

"Oh…sorry, come on, I'm not done yet." She headed back downstairs.

"Um…not done with what?"

"Killing my dummies."

"Right, and how-" He broke off at the sight of her basement. There was stuffing everywhere, an torso was against the left wall, an arm still half attached, the head was a mess of fabric shreds, plastic, and stuffing. He could see the remains of at least 4 others littering the floor as well. The two dummies left standing, did not look like they would be doing so for much longer.

Beth started immediately on them, five minutes later; they had joined their companions on the floor.

"Um…ok then, Beth what are you doing/"

"Taking my frustration out."

"Right, are you done?"

"Unfortunately yes, I have nothing else I can tear apart." She gestured around at the mess surrounding them.

"Well, you can't tear anything apart, but you can attack something."

She raised an eyebrow. "And what might that me?"

"Well, do you have any extra um…weapons I can use, preferable ones better for someone my size."

Beth grinned. "I'll be right back."

* * *

So, I forgot to ask, what did you guys think of Ethan being Natasha and Josef's brother?


	22. Chapter 22

Ok, first of all I would like to thank magialuna for reminding me that I hadn't updated on yet. I know I already said thank you, but I'll say it again. 'Thank you.' I am sorry, please forgive me. The other site I am at I already have Chapters 22 and 23 up on, so you get both all at once. Again, I'm sorry.

* * *

Chapter 22

She hurried upstairs to her weapon room, grabbed two larger blades, a Quarter Staff, and the coverings for the blades she had downstairs.

"Will these work?" She tossed the two blades over, and he caught them easily.

He slid the coverings off, then nodded slid them back on, and latched them so they wouldn't come off. "They'll do fine. What will you use?"

She held up the staff. "I hardly ever get to use this, cause you need someone to fight with to use it to its full potential."

"Very well, um, count of three?"

"How about this, I used to play a game, it was practice for Dagorhir, well anyway, we touched weapons, counted to three, and said 'Lay On'."

"Ok, that works." He paused then asked. "What's Dagorhir?"

She laughed. "Basically, it's a roll playing reenactment, the weapons, well, hold on." She set the staff down, and hurried upstairs. She came back a minute later, carrying what looked like a foam covered baseball bat. "This is what they used to look like, I'll show you some others sometime, but for now, I need to do something physical."

Mick nodded; Beth lifted the Quarter Staff once more, and they touched weapons, then Beth said. "One, two, three, Lay On!" Beth spun, and flipped out of the way, using the staff as leverage. Mick may not be able to use his vampire abilities as much as he would like, but he was still very strong and extremely agile.

Beth paused, waiting for him to move, finally he moved slightly to the right; her left; she immediately twisted to her right, and met him halfway, he slashed with one of the blades, she blocked, then caught behind his arm with the staff, and jerked, flinging the blade out of his hand. He hesitated only a second before retaliating with and slashed with the other blade. She blocked again, but couldn't remove this blade from him, he had moved to fast.

She jabbed at his ribs with one end of the staff, but was blocked by the blade. She twisted away, and kicked the other blade up into her hand, dropping the staff, and pulling out the small dagger she kept in her shoe at all times. She was careful to make sure the sheath came with it, as she didn't want to hurt him, and it was silver.

They continued for several more minutes, then Beth swung wildly with the sword, Mick bent backwards at the waist, and Beth stepped forward to press the knife to his throat. Mick looked at her, they stood for several seconds, their eyes locked, then Mick nodded, and Beth pulled back.

"Well done."

"Thanks, both for the compliment, and for letting my take my frustration out on you."

Mick frowned. "Why were you frustrated?"

"Haven't you seen the news?" He shook his head.

"No, but according to Josef, I've made it."

"Ok, I'm going to take a quick shower, you can take one in the downstairs shower if you want."

She nodded. "Ok, thanks. I'll just grab my change of clothes from my car."

"Ok. The bathroom's through the hall over there." She pointed and then headed upstairs.

Ten minutes later they were both back on the couch, and Beth asked. "Look, is there anything I can do?"

He thought for a moment. "Do you have a video camera?"

Beth grinned. "Of course, come on, I'll get it." She went upstairs and pulled a camera case out from under the couch.

"That will work." He sat down, and waited for her to be done.

"Ok, here we go, you ready?" He nodded. "Ok, here we go…action."

"My name is Mick St John…" Beth lost all sense of hearing soon after he began the look on his face, it was hard to describe. It was firm, resolved, almost iron-like, but there was a softness to it, a calm serene look that never quite left no matter what he was feeling at the time.

"Hey, Beth, you ok?" Beth was snapped out of her thoughts by Mick snapping his fingers in front of her.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, I got distracted." She stopped the recording, and went to go edit everything that she and Mick had said after he was done. "I'll just polish this up, and we'll be good."

"Ok, now what?" Mick asked when she was done.

"Now, I have to upload it onto Buzzwire." She slid in the DVD, and was done in about 5 minutes. "Ok, now what?"

"I think it's his move now, so we wait." Mick stood up and began to pace back and forth. Beth allowed this for a minute then stood up, grabbed his arm, pushed him down into the couch, and sat down on his lap.

"Er-"

"You are making my nervous with your continuous pacing."

"Oh." He was silent for a few minutes then said. "You didn't have to sit on me you know."

"Well I wasn't sure if you would stay, so I sat on you to make sure you would."

'Oh…you can get up now you know."

"Yes, I know, but I'm comfortable now." Mick apparently had nothing to say to that, because he was quiet for the next few minutes. Then the phone rang.

"I'll get it." Beth said. She grabbed the phone, it was Julia.

She answered and spoke without giving Julia a chance to say anything. "Look, I'm sorry, and I know you're furious with me, but it's true."

"I know Beth, I know." Then there was a sound like someone getting hit and Julia cried out it pain.

"Put him on." It was Lee Jay. "Put him on." Beth looked up at Mick, handed him the phone, pressed record, and grabbed the other phone to listen in.

"What do you want?"

"You watch your tone with me."

"What do you want?"

"You do not talk to me that way! You forget who you're talking to. I know what you are Mick!" Mick looked up at Beth, as though worried about what she would make of that, but she just looked at him.

"Now here's what I want. I want; I want you to go to the nearest police, and I want you to turn yourself in."

"I didn't do anything, an' I'm not gonna say I did."

"You know what, if you feel that way, then Julia here ends up like Ilene."

"How do I know you won't kill her anyway?"

"You don't."

"Please, help me, please."

"You hear that? Hard to say no isn't it? You got one hour." He hung up.

"Mick, we need to find some way of getting the police to say you turned yourself in." Suddenly she thought of Josh. "Hold on, I've got an idea." She took the phone, and found Josh's number in her contact list.

"Beth?"

"Yes, Josh can you come to my house, I need your help now."

"Oh, um ok, sure, I'll be there. Um…does this have anything to do-"

"No Josh, I just need your help."

"Oh…ok."

"Hurry!" She hung up.

"Ok, he should be here in a few minutes; he should have some way of helping."

"Ok." He started to pace again.

"Mick, do I have to sit on you again?" He gave a weak grin then sat back down.

He sat there for a minute the stood up, looking at the window. Several seconds later a car pulled up.

"Mick, get out of sight, if he sees you he won't even think about helping."

"Ok." He stood up, and backed away towards the kitchen hallway, moving into the shadows.

There was a knock at the door, and Beth opened it to let Josh come in.

"Beth, what is it?"

She pressed play on the answering machine.

"_What do you want?"_

"_You watch your tone with me."_

"_What do you want?"_

"_You do not talk to me that way, you forget who you're talking to, I know what you are Mick. Now here's what I want; I want you to go to the nearest police, and I want you to turn yourself in."_

"_I didn't do anything, an' I'm not gonna say I did."_

"_You know what, if you feel that way, then Julia here ends up like Ilene"_

She stopped it there. "I need you to find someone to say that Mick has turned himself in."

"What? Beth, I can't-"

"You heard him! If Lee Jay doesn't hear that Mick has turned himself in he's going to kill her!"

"Well then St. John should just go do that!"

"But he'll kill her anyway, and Mick is the only one who knows how to find her!"

"Beth, I-" He sighed "Beth, do you trust him?"

"With my life."

Josh took a deep breath, then nodded. "Ok, I have a friend in social services; maybe I can get him to say something."

"Thank you." She unplugged the recording and handed it to him. "Here, this may help." He nodded and then left.

Beth turned to Mick. "Now what?"

"I think I know how to find them. I tagged Julia's car." He handed her his phone. "You wanna navigate?" She grinned.

"Duh." He headed out to his car, and Beth got in after grabbing her bag from her car. Mick shut the door behind her, and hurried over to the other side to get in. "One of these days I am going to get in before you open the door for me."

"Right, and when that time comes you get to choose, yeah, yeah, didn't we already discus this?"

"Yes."

"Ok, just checking."

"Turn left up ahead." The rest of the ride was passed in silence except for the directions that Beth was giving.

"Ok, now you stay here, and if I'm not out in 10 minutes call the cops."

"Ok, you got that?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, open the glove box." Beth pulled out a gun. "Now, do you know how to use that?"

"Yes, but I prefer my knives."

"Ok, now stay here." He got out, and closed the door quietly.

"Why does the girl always have to wait in the car?" Mick didn't answer.

Beth waited for a minute, then quietly got out of the car, and headed towards the building. As quietly as she could, she made her way through the warehouse. Finally she heard sounds coming from up ahead. She walked softy towards them, then sensed something about to happen, and moved faster. There was a gunshot, and seconds later Julia ran past her.

"Julia!" Beth whispered urgently.

"Beth?!" Julia sounded confused.

"What are you doing here?!"

"What happened to Mick?!"

"He-He got shot, I-I think Lee Jay said something about poison or something, but I didn't-" Her eyes went wide, and she fled. Beth turned around to see Lee Jay through some fence thing he was holding a flame torch and he seemed to be kicking something on the ground, Mick. Beth ran forward in time to hear him say.

"…wonder what it would be like, to live forever, powerful."

"The last thing this world needs is an eternal you." Mick sounded hoarse, the fire must be getting to him. Beth didn't even think, she ran forward, aimed, and fired. Lee Jay slowly dropped to the floor. Beth stood frozen for a moment, she had just killed someone, she had shot someone, and now he was dead.

Mick brought her out of her trance. "I thought I told you to stay in the car." Beth looked at him, he was still on the floor, and he didn't look good, he needed to get home, but how was she supposed to get him there without-She shook her head, his life was more important than him not finding out.

She ran to him, falling to the ground next to him, and gently lifted him onto his side. "Mick, just hold still, I'm going to call Natasha." She grabbed her phone, and almost missed the number; her fingers were shaking so hard.

"Beth, hey what-"

"Natasha, Mick's been shot."

"Well yeah but-"

"No! Lee Jay shot him!" Beth felt tears falling down her face.

"I need help getting him out of here! Julia probably called the police already, they'll be here any minute!"

"Ok, tell me where you are, and come out front, don't stay with him."

"But-"

"No Beth."

"Ok." She gave the directions, and turned back to Mick, but he was gone.

She ran out of the building, looking for him. His car was still there, so he must have taken off on foot. She saw Julia standing over by a payphone, and ran over.

"Julia, Mick's gone missing, I have to find him!"

"Mick-is-is he all–all right?"

"He'll be fine, but I have to find him!" Julia nodded absently.

Beth got in Mick's car, and drove off for his house. She called Natasha on the way.

"Beth, what is it?"

"Mick he's gone!"

"Did you see which way he went?"

"No."

"Ok, I'll let Josef know that Mick may come by needing blood and then I'll head out to look for him, I know most of his usual spots. If he comes near you, get you knife, I don't know how bad his blood lust may be, and he might attack you."

"I'll be careful."

"Ok, talk to you tomorrow."

Beth parked the car, and headed upstairs, the door to his flat was open, and she hurried in. Mick was leaning on one of the desks, and he seemed to be holding a bag in front of him.


	23. Chapter 23

And here is chapter 23. I am going away for about 2 weeks, and will be unable to update...I will try to get to a computer and I always have my memory sticks with me so if I am able to get to a computer with internet access, I will update then, but please don't hold you're breath waiting.

Again thank you to magialuna for reminding me.

* * *

Chapter 23

"Mick!" He jerked, and hunched over on himself, trying to stay out of her sight.

"Please leave."

"No! Not until I get those out of your back, and I can see that you're better."

"Beth, please get out."

"No." She walked up to him, and turned him around. He closed his eyes, and turned his face away. "Mick, please look at me, it's ok."

"Beth go, please." His lips barely moved, he was trying to hide his fangs from her.

"Mick, if we don't that silver out of you you'll die!" He stiffened, and turned to look at her.

"Wh-what?"

"I said we need to get those bullets out. Yes, I know what you are. Now where can I find some tweezers?"

"U-under the sink." She ran over, and grabbed the First Aid Kit, opening it as she went.

"Mick, I need you're help, you need to move over onto your stomach so I can get these out."

He shifted slightly, and Beth quickly moved to help him. She ripped his shirt and used it to wipe away the blood. There were three main bullet holes, and she started on those.

She was just about to pull at one, when she heard the elevator doors open. She looked up at the door, it was open. She slammed it shut, and locked it firmly. She went back to Mick.

"Mick, hold onto the table, this is going to hurt." She dug into his skin, and after several seconds, pulled out the bullet. She continued for several minutes before she was certain she had gotten them all.

"Mick, are there any more?"

He nodded. "There's a few in my right side." She helped him to shift to his left, and began working on those. She had just gotten one out, when someone yelled from the other side of the door.

"Mick, I know you're in there, I can smell you." Beth looked up at the camera screen. It showed a well dressed man, with some facial similarities to Natasha. It must be Josef. "Mick, unlock the door, I know the password, but you locked it manually and I don't want to break down the door." Beth went back to pulling out the other bullets. She'd stay out if it; let them talk it out.

"Mick, I said open the door."

"Josef, I'm fine."

"Natasha called and said Lee Jay had shot you with silver bullets, now how is that fine?"

"How-what? Where did Natasha find that out?"

"She wouldn't tell me." He paused. "I'll have to find out later, but I figured you would come here, rather than come to my place as you knew I would make you take blood from a freshie. Well guess what, I've got some fresh anyway, and you will be drinking it."

For some reason, the thought of Mick drinking some 'freshie's' blood made Beth's own blood boil, and she spoke without thinking. "No he won't!" Mick twisted around to look at her, and there was silence from the other side of the door.

"Mick, who was that?"

"My name is Beth Turner, why?"

"Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I don't believe that's any of your business."

"It is when it concerns my friends well being."

"Josef, I told you I'm fine." This statement was rather poor in convincing Josef of this, as he growled as Beth pulled out the last bullet.

"Mick, if you don't open this door so help me I will break it down."

"Hold your horses." Beth said, she stood up and unlocked the door. "Come in." She backed away warily. Natasha she knew, but this vampire was also related to Ethan, and as she had never met him, she had no idea what to expect.

Josef walked in, and blinked, taking in the scene before him. He turned on Beth, who stood her ground, even as he walked right up to her and she had to lean her head back to look him in the eye.

"Who are you?"

"Why don't you ask your sister?" His eyebrows rose.

"Natasha, what does she have to do with you?"

"Well I guess you'll have to figure that out, now won't you."

"I can make you, you know."

"No you won't Josef." Mick stood up, and walked over to stand between them. "You'll leave her alone, you've seen that I'm fine, now get out."

"Not until you drink this." He held up the bottle of blood.

"He won't have to." Josef turned to look at Beth.

"And why is that?"

"He can have mine." His eyebrow rose once again.

"Beth no-"

"Mick, be quiet. Josef, will you please get out."

"Make me."

"Very well." She pulled out her phone, and called Natasha.

"Beth, I can't find-"

"Natasha, I need you to come to Mick's place and get rid of your brother."

"Ethan's there?!"

"No, you're other one."

"What, Josef?"

"Yes, I told him to leave, and he told me to make him, so, I decided you knew him best, and would have better luck that I would."

Natasha laughed. "Ok hand the phone over."

Beth handed him the phone. "What?" Josef asked not taking the phone.

"I know you head every word of what she said." He took it, and then gave it back a moment later.

"Very well, I will leave, but you will be seeing me again sometime soon, rest assured."

"Fine, but get out for now, and take that thing with you." She pointed towards the bottle of blood he had set on the table. He grabbed it, and then left. Beth shut and locked the door behind him, and turned to Mick.

"I-I know you have questions, but could we finish getting you cleaned up first?" Mick nodded, and began cleaning off the tweezers and placed them back in the First Aid Kit.

"Mick, here." She held out the bag that she had kept all the blood in. He took it hesitantly, and looked inside. He looked back up at her, shock written clearly in his eyes; eyes, which were flickering from their normal warm hazel, to icy blue.

Beth sighed. "Ok, questions as soon as you finish eating."

"Beth-"

"Mick, I know what you are, I also know who, you are, ok, now can we get past the awkward stage?"

Mick gave a weak chuckle. "I don't know, I mean, it's going to get even worse in a minute I'm sure of that."

"Why?"

Mick shook his head. "Nothing."

"Mick, are you talking about Coraline?"

His eyes snapped to hers. "Yes."

"Mick how do you think I know about vampires? I may have only been five, but I could understand some of what I saw." She walked forward and pulled out a bag of blood, and opened it. "Now drink, or I will make you feed from me."

"Beth, I will never do that."

"Mick, stop using that word, I haven't since I was 5." She held out the blood bag, but Mick didn't take it. She sighed, this was going to hurt. She pulled out her knife, and cut her palm. Mick inhaled sharply, and turned away.

"You will feed before we talk Mick."

"Beth why-"

"I said before, not after. You were just shot with silver, and you almost got burned with fire, you need to feed." She allowed some of the desperation she felt to seep into her voice. "Please Mick."

"Fine, go sit down, I will eat, and then you get to answer some questions."

"That's fine except for the 'me going to sit down' part; I am not giving you any chances to run."

"Beth, please." She sighed, and did what he asked. She didn't like having him out of her sight, but all this must be a rather big shock to him, so she would try and make things a little bit easier. She stood next to his tabletop fireplace, and waited for him. He came a minute later, his eyes now permanently hazel. He gestured for her to sit, but she shook her head.

"I'll just end up to pace anyway." He nodded, and sat down.

"Ok, what do you want to know?"

"How long have you known, and I mean known what I am, who I am-" He stopped unsure of how to phrase his question.

"I understand." She thought for a moment. "You face wasn't in my head, I couldn't remember what you looked like, except for your eyes, they were a warm hazel, I never forgot that, and you voice, that was stuck too. When you saved me from the man with the knife about…10-15 years, I heard your voice, and saw your eyes. I looked back, and you were still watching me…it…it made me feel safe. The night before I saw you, like actually met you, I had a nightmare about the night you saved me. At first I wasn't sure why, then I thought maybe it was because of the girl looking like she had been killed by a vampire, but now I think it was my brain's way of telling me I would be meeting you."

"So you knew the whole time?"

"I wasn't sure at first, but then you spoke, and I just knew."

"Why-why didn't you say anything?"

"Mick, what would you have done if I'd walked up to you said 'Hello, oh and by the way I know you're a vampire'?"

"Taken off in the other direction."

"Exactly. I couldn't do that, I had to talk to you, get to know you first." She paused. "A few days later I met Natasha, and somehow got her to trust me enough to listen to me. She's been helping me ever since."

"That's how Josef knew."

"Yes; and why she said she took the blood."

"Wait, she didn't?"

"No, the blood I just gave you, that's what was here before."

"What were you doing here when Lee Jay showed up?"

"Ethan knows I know that vampires exist, he also knew that you didn't know that, I told Natasha, and she told me I had to tell you as soon as I could, so I went to your house to wait, Lee Jay was already there."

"So you somehow got the blood away even thought he had the gun?"

"I don't even remember how I did it, it's all a blur, the clearest thing is running down the stairs, and knowing that if you started down, you'd see me…and you'd know. I didn't want to tell you!"

Mick frowned. "I think I have a right to know when someone knows what I am."

"Mick, I wanted you to tell me!"

"There was no way I was going to tell you!"

Beth closed her eyes tightly. "Thank you so much." She said sarcastically.

"For what? Telling you the truth?"

After running from Lee Jay, Mick finding out everything, Beth's temper was about ready to completely unwind. "I could hope, Natasha told me that too, but I chose to believe you would, thank you so much for telling me I shouldn't believe in things like that anymore."

"Beth, you weren't supposed to ever find out!"

"Well I did, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Beth, there are plenty of things I can do about it." Beth gasped.

"So what, you just want me to walk away, forget you even existed?"

"Ideally that would be perfect." Beth closed her eyes again, trying to hold back her tears.

"Why, just, why?"

"Beth how many times did you lie to me? The knife, you knew it was silver didn't you."

"Yes I knew."

"How am I supposed to trust you?! You've kept all this from me for so long, how do I know you won't do it again?"

"You don't, you just have to trust me."

"Well sorry Beth, but I don't." Beth completely gave up trying to hold the tears back; she grabbed her bag, and hurried to the door. She unlocked it, and ran.


	24. Chapter 24

Ok, long story short, no internet at home, had to get somewhere where this site is not blocked. Here you go, you've got the next chapter all ready to read.

Yeah, yeah, not mine you know the drill.

Chapter 24

She bumped into someone halfway down the hallway. She couldn't see who it was through the tears, but Natasha's concerned voice broke though the haze of pain in her mind.

"Beth, Beth what's wrong?!" Beth just shook her head. "Beth tell me!"

"He-he doesn't want anything to do with me, just let me go." Beth could barely recognize her own voice, it was so broken.

"Beth, he's confused, he doesn't know up from down right now, give him time."

"Time, time?!" Beth was furious. "All you guys have is time! I have a _life_time! Not eternity! I can't wait forever for him to get his head out of his ass and listen!" She dropped her bag, and began to hit Natasha over and over, until she was completely lost in her tears. She barely felt Natasha picking her up and carrying her through a door to lay her on a couch.

She heard Mick and Natasha talking as if from a long distance away.

"What is she doing here?"

"Mick, you and I both dam well you heard every word she said, and we both know she's not lying. You both have had a trying day, rest a bit and things will seem clearer in the morning."

"Natasha, how am I supposed to deal with this?"

"However you feel best. If you don't want her around, I'm sure she'll listen to you and stay away, just make sure you know what you want before you say anything rash." She paused, and then said. "You don't like that she kept this from you, but you've kept how much from her over the past 22 years? When were you going to tell her you looked after her for 22 years? When Mick?"

Mick was silent, then said. "She can stay there for the night, but I want her out by noon tomorrow."

"I said she would listen, but she'll also fight to keep you in her life, she doesn't want to lose you, that's part of why she didn't tell you she knew."

"What do you mean?"

"She was afraid if she told you, you'd leave for good."

"Well then I guess she should have done it before, then she wouldn't be so attached to me now would she?" There was a loud slap as Natasha's had hit Mick's face. There was a pause then Mick said. "I deserved that didn't I?"

"Yes, you did, and you're lucky I don't do more."

"I still want her gone by tomorrow."

"Fine, but you are in charge of getting her out."

"Fine, as long as she stays gone."

Natasha sighed, why was Mick being so difficult, it wasn't like him at all. "Very well, just…let her say her piece, it's the least you can do."

"I'll do my best."

Natasha nodded, and left.

Beth lay there, unsure if she should leave or not. It was obvious Mick didn't want her around anymore, but he did say she could stay until noon tomorrow, and if that may be the last time she saw him, she wanted to take advantage of what little time she had left. She sat up and looked around, but Mick was no where in sight.

"Mick?" There was no answer, Beth sighed and lay down. Eventually she fell asleep, but she was tossed from nightmare to nightmare. In every one Mick was leaving, or had already left. The last one was the worst.

"_Mick, please I didn't-"_

"_Get out."_

"_Please Mick! Let me explain!"_

"_I said get out!"_

"_Mick, please, don't-"_

"_Just go, you're worse than Coraline!"_

"_Mick, please!"_

"_Fine, you don't have to go, but when I get back you had better be gone!" Mick was walking out the door, and Beth couldn't reach him, she couldn't stop him._

"_Mick, no please, don't leave, Mick no! NO!!"_

Beth was jerked awake, tears running down her face. She looked around, and sobbed even harder, Mick obviously hadn't come back yet, it wasn't a dream. Suddenly she felt something brush her hand, she looked up, it was Midnight. The cat meowed softly, and Beth reacted instantly, pulling the cat to her, and sobbing into her fur. Memories of the day before assaulted her mind, and she clutched at the cat desperately as though she were the only solid ground in her suddenly upside down world.

Abruptly Midnight hissed, and pulled away. Beth looked up, Mick was standing at the bottom of the stairs, in just his pants, and Midnight was clearly furious with him. Beth sat up not even bothering to wipe her face, the tears obviously weren't going to stop any time soon so there was no point.

"Mick." She paused, could she do this? No, but she had to. "Mick, do-do you still want me to leave? Because if you do, I will, no questions asked, I'll just leave."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I leave the city, your house, whichever, I don't particularly care, but I'll do it if you want me to."

Mick sighed. "Beth." He stopped, and just looked at her. Beth felt a fresh wave of tears threatening to fall, she tried to hold them back, but failed, and they spilled down her cheeks to join their companions now sinking into Midnight's fur.

"Mick, just tell me and get it over with, don't torture me like this." Beth closed her eyes to hold back the tears, but that just caused more of them to spill over, so she opened them again, and then Mick was kneeling right before her, just staring into her eyes. "Mick, just do it." If he didn't tell her to get out soon, she'd do it without being told.

"I'm sorry." More tears came, and it was a few seconds before Beth fully registered what he said, but she still wasn't sure what he meant, was he sorry for hurting her, or sorry for what he said, or…just…what?

"For what?"

"For what I said, for hurting you, for speaking without thinking, for…for wanting you to leave and not come back."

Beth held her breath. "Do-do you still want me to leave?"

Mick's eyes widened and he pulled her close enough to hug her tightly. "No, Beth no! I don't want you to leave!" Beth felt the tears start to fall again, but this time they were tears of relief. She clung to him, not at all willing to let go for fear that this was another dream.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She continued to chant over and over, until finally Mick said.

"Beth, you have nothing to be sorry for, you didn't do anything wrong."

"But I didn't tell you, you-you had-have every right to be angry."

"Beth…I wasn't angry, I was confused, I guess I'm not used to humans finding out, or knowing what I am, so I went on the defensive, I-I don't know, all I know is I was wrong to say those things."

"Mick, we both said or did hurtful things, I think it would be best to put it behind us." Mick nodded.

"So, now what?"

"What do you mean?"

"Where do we go from here?"

"The same way we were going before…now you can just loosen up a bit more." She paused, and then gave a slight chuckle. "You don't know how many times I wanted to kick myself for what I'd said, or almost said."

"What do you mean?"

"Like after the book signing, I almost said 'how about dinner'."

"Ah."

"And then another time, I asked if you wanted something to drink."

"I can drink, but only certain-"

"I know Mick, I've done my research."

"Uh, why do I get the feeling I should watch out?"

"Because you spent the last 22 years taking care of me, and you know me well enough."

"You're probably right." Beth pulled back, wiped her face, and looked at him, then looked down as she heard the sound of purring. Midnight had managed to worm her way between them without them noticing, and was now curled up half on each of their laps. Both of them laughed.

"I don't think she's mad at you anymore."

"Yeah, she seems to be quite content now."

"I wonder-" Exactly what she wondered would be found out later, for at that moment, there was a knock on the door. It was Natasha. Beth got an evil look in her eyes, and pulled Mick's ear close to her mouth and said. "Let's pretend we're still fighting and see what she does." Mick smirked, and nodded. Beth quickly thought of something to bring back the tears, her previous dreams were enough, and Mick moved to open the door, tension rolling off him in waves.

Natasha walked in, and sighed. "I had hoped you would be in a better mood this morning Mick."

"Natasha, I am not on the best terms with you either, so don't push it." He turned away and walked into the kitchen. "Have you come to get her out?"

"You said she could stay until noon, and she will stay unless she doesn't want to." Natasha looked at Beth, who shook her head, and said.

"We-we haven't really talked yet, and…I have to try." Real tears fell as she spoke, this was hitting to close to home, and she could see that it was starting to affect Mick as well, but Natasha concentrating on Beth; wasn't noticing. "Just…give me an hour; I'll-I'll call you if I need anything…or if-if anything changes."

Natasha nodded. "See you in a hour then, but I hope not." Beth nodded, and Natasha left, after giving Mick a glare worthy of Josef.

Beth waited for a minute, and then burst out laughing. "Oh my, I can't believe she fell for it."

"I think she was too concentrated on her disappointment to notice that anything was amiss." Beth nodded.

"So, when should we tell her?"

"How about you just text her and say April Fools."

"All right, but you first."

"Ok." Mick pulled out his phone, and texted her, but he was ignored. "She ignored me, you try."

"Ok." She texted 'April Fools…O and that's what Mick said 2, lol'."

There was a knock on the door seconds later, and Natasha called through. "Ok you two; you've had your fun, now let me in."

Beth called out. "The door is unlocked Tasha." Natasha came through, and went strait for Mick, and hit him upside the head, hard.

"You-you….you prat!"

"Hey, it was my idea, not his." Beth had stood up, she knew that Natasha was just playing, but for some reason the sight of her hitting Mick made her feel angry, almost jealous.

Natasha blinked, then hit Mick again. "Yeah, well for one, he listened, and for another I know I can hit him all I want, and it won't do a thing to him."

"Yeah, well it's making me feel all weird." Natasha looked at her, slightly confused.

"What do you mean weird?"

"Like…angry?"

Natasha grinned, and turned to Mick. "Mick, you are going to have your hands full once she's turned." Mick froze; Natasha grimaced, and looked back at Beth. "I see you haven't discussed that yet." Beth shook her head. "Right, ok you two have fun with you talking, and me and my big mouth will just leave now." Beth grinned.

"What's wrong Tasha, didn't like the trick we played on you?"

"Not particularly, no."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Beth said, not looking sorry at all.

"Yeah, sure you are. I'll see you guys later…I'm trusting that I don't have to come by to take her home."

Beth looked at Mick, who shook his head. "Nope, we've got that covered."

"Ok, see you…sometime." She left, and Mick suddenly rushed after her.

"Hey, Natasha, can you like not say anything about this to your brother, please. I'd like to do that myself, ok."

"Yeah sure, but, why?"

"He's not going to understand it coming from either of us, but I'd still like to be there."

There was a pause then Natasha said. "You may be surprised."

"What?"

"I can't say anymore…it's not my story to tell."

"Oh, ok. See ya."

"Bye." Mick came back in, and shut the door behind him.

"Now, before she got here, and you came up with that plan, where were we?"

"I think I had said 'I wonder' but I can't remember what it was I was wondering." She laughed.

Mick sat down in his chair, across from Beth, who got up, and walked over to sit on the arm of the chair. He raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't say anything; Beth however sighed, and stood up. "You're going to have to get used to it, because I'm not going to go away, nor am I going to stop acting as I do now that you know everything."

"And just how are you acting?"

"You know dam well what I'm talking about, and acting like you don't will get you absolutely no where."

Mick sighed. "Beth, you said you'd done you research, so that means you must know that it doesn't work."

"No Mick, most of the time it doesn't work, and the times that it does normally end up lasting forever, and yes I talking literally."

Mick stood up, and walked over to her. "No."

"Mick, it's my choice, not yours, you can't tell me what I can, and can't do; I'm 27, not 5."

"Beth, this is what I saved you from, how can you want it?"

"Mick, I was 5, at that age, it would have been torture, now, it's different."

Mick shook his head. "Beth, can we discus this some other time, after everything that happened last night, and now this, my mind is having some trouble keeping up."

Beth sighed, he was right, she was going a bit fast for him, but for her it was just delaying the inevitable. "All right, fine. I'll stop, but you are not allowed to push me away either."

Mick leaned his head back. "I feel like I've stepped into the 'Twilight Zone'."

"Well get used to it. I'm not leaving any time soon."

Mick gave a mock groan. "Just what I need, more chaos, between you Natasha and Josef, I may just prove that vampires can die of mortal cause." Beth grinned; if he was joking he must be feeling better.

"So, now what?"

"Well, we can continue our discussion, bizarre as it is, or I'm sure we can find something else to do."

Beth thought, and then began pulling Mick towards the door. "I've got the prefect idea."

"Oh no, what is it?"

"Well, you seem to be getting in the 'monster' mode again, so I think it may be a good idea to revisit a certain discussion we had a few nights back."

"And which one was this?"

"Well, first we have to watch the movie, and then if you're still not getting it, we'll have the discussion."

"Oh great, you know I'm getting the feeling that if we ever go to New York, we may have to stop by The Majestic, maybe that will cure you of-" He was cut off by Beth hugging him so hard, if he had to breath, he wouldn't have been able to.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! I've always wanted to see it there…although I do wish it was played in The Garnier, it would have been awesome there, but this is the best!" She gave an extra squeeze, and then let go. Mick looked slightly dazed for a second then shook his head.

"Ok then."

"Oh, and it won't cure me of it, I saw it once when I was young at Vegas, it was good, but half of the words I couldn't hear, and of the few parts I did, I can't remember most of them."

"So that's where you disappeared to, you were…8 I think?"

"Yeah, I was." Beth was delighted that he remembered.

"Ok well-" There was a knock at the door, both turned to look at the screen. It was Ethan.


	25. Chapter 25

I'm so, so sorry...my muse kinda...deserted me I guess. I had this idea about an Augest Rush x-over w/ PotO...tried it and it didn't get rid of my block, so I just stopped. Yeah, there's really no excuse for it, but I'm back now, I promise I will NOT leave a story unfinished...unless I absolutly have to and I will tell you the reason if that is the case...unless I'm dead, and then it's Eve's job to inform you why (he, he). So yeah, you finally get an update.

* * *

Chapter 25

Mick pushed Beth behind him, and unlocked the door. Ethan came in, and looked surprised to see Beth there.

"Ah, I wasn't expecting you to have…ah…'company'."

"Just shut up and tell us what you're doing here." Beth said.

Ethan looked surprised. "Fine." He looked at Mick. "Why is she here?"

"I don't see why that is any of your business."

"Mick you know that's not what I meant, why is she even alive, she knows what we are, she must be disposed of."

"Mr. LaFont, I'm a reporter, I know how to twist words to my liking, and I can keep secrets."

Ethan's eyes flashed silver and he stepped forward. "You may have that ability, but you are mortal, and as such can be easily disposed of." Mick reacted instantly. Ethan was pressed up against the door, and Mick's fangs were sharpened and bared.

"Mick no, stop!" Beth wedged herself in between them, and took Mick's face in her hands, and forced him to meet her eyes. "Mick, please just stop, I'm fine, he won't be able to touch me, you won't let him, I know that. He won't hurt me." Her words seemed break through to him, and he backed off. Ethan straitened his jacket, and sneered at them.

"So pitiful, any real vampire would have torn out my throat for insulting them or even their freshie."

"For one thing, I am not a freshie, and for another, get out now." Beth moved to stand half behind Mick, half next to him.

He sneered at them again, and Beth was reminded slightly of someone…she just couldn't think who. "I don't take orders from freshies, much less simple mortals who just got lucky enough to find out about us."

"You know, Coraline thought I would make a good vampire." Shock rose in Ethan's eyes before he could hide it.

"And how did you know her?"

"She kidnapped me to try and convince Mick that the three of us could be a family together." Anger shone in his eyes, although it did not seem to be directed at them this time. Then he sneered again.

"But that was when you were a child, not an adult."

"Natasha seems to think I'd make a good one."

"Yes, well Natasha always's had a strange way of looking at things."

A voice from behind Ethan said. "Oh she has, has she?" Josef stepped out of the shadows, completely vamped. Ethan turned to face him. "I thought I told you to stay away from us."

"You did, but then I never did take orders from you, did it?" Josef grabbed him and threw him out into the hall.

"Never, but if you know what's best for you, you may decide to start soon."

Ethan laughed. "Keep thinking that brother, you know you'll never be able to bring yourself to kill me. Wouldn't want to get you hand dirty."

"I may not do the deed myself, but I can arrange for you car to suddenly explode. And besides, Natasha isn't so restricted. Now get out!" Ethan turned and walked away.

Josef stared after him then turned to look at Mick. "Sorry about him."

"No problem. Come on in." Josef walked in, and sat down in a chair. "So what are you doing here so late?"

"Natasha had a rather interesting story to tell me last night."

Mick sighed. "I'm sure she told you all you need to know."

"All I need to know yes, but not all I want to know." He turned to Beth. "I have to congratulate you, both on bringing Mick somewhat out of his shell, and for not backing down to Ethan."

"Ethan wasn't hard, I'd met him before, Mick was a bit, well he's Mick."

Josef nodded. "So am I going to have to worry about becoming an extinct species any time soon?"

"I can't answer that, but I can tell you that if you do, it will not be because of me."

"I suppose that's fair enough."

"All right, are you done interrogating her now?"

"Now Mick, when am I ever done interrogating people?"

"Never."

"Exactly." He turned back to Beth. "Now, my sister said something about you calling her to tell her that Mick had been shot, and that you apparently didn't listen when she told you to stay away from Mick."

Beth frowned; she would have to talk to Natasha about that. "Of course I didn't listen, Mick was hurt and if there was anyway for me to help then I was going to." Josef raised an eyebrow.

"Even if it meant feeding from you?"

Beth frowned and held up her hand, the cut from the night before obvious on her palm. "Does that answer your question?" Josef shook his head.

"But would you have let him feed from you, if it was necessary?"

Beth walked over to him, and stared down at him. She just stood there, then Josef stood up, towering over her, their eyes locked. Then Beth turned and walked to Mick, who looked slightly bewildered at what was happening. "Mick."

"Yes." He said somewhat warily.

"Would you bite me?"

Mick looked horrified. "What, why-no!"

Beth's eyes glazed over, remembering her dream. "Not even if you were dying?"

"No!"

"Would you be able to stop yourself?" Josef asked.

Shaking, Mick whispered. "I don't know."

Josef walked over to them. "Mick, you know dam well that if you were dying you wouldn't be able to control yourself."

Mick looked Josef in the eye. "I've never been in a situation like that so I don't know…and neither do you."

"Mick, we're vampires, we need blood to survive, end of story."

"Don't you think I know that, Josef?"

Josef was about to reply, when Beth broke in. "Guys, can we get back to my original question please?"

"Fine." Josef turned back to Mick. "So, would you?"

"I already answered. No." Beth walked away, feeling the tears starting up again; she walked over to the window, staring out at the city. Mick walked over to her. "Look, I know you didn't like my answer, but would you have rather I lied to you?" Beth didn't say anything, and Mick gave a groan of frustration. "Will you quit being so damn stubborn?!" Beth whirled to face him, glaring.

"Well if it isn't the kettle calling the pot black."

"What, you are, and I'm not being stubborn, I'm just trying to keep you safe."

"I'll decide what's best for me, and that includes what's safe for me and what isn't!"

"Well you don't seem to be deciding very well seeing as you're still here!"

Beth threw her hands up in the air. "Mick, I trust you! You saved me when I was a child! How can I not feel safe around you?!"

"Beth I'm a-" A slight cough from the other side of the room made them both jump. Josef was smirking slightly, although he hadn't moved since they'd started on this tirade.

"Am I going to have to break up a relationship fight already?" Both Mick and Beth blushed, though Beth more so. He continued. "Although I have to say, the end result after the fighting is always worth the fight in the first place." Mick glared at him, but Josef only smirked.

"Sorry." Beth mumbled, knowing he could hear her as well as if she'd shouted. Mick said nothing. "I just…let myself get carried away."

"Understandable, now how long have you known Mick for what he is?"

"Um…about a week, maybe a week and a half." There was no need to show that she'd been counting the minutes…although she was certain he'd guessed it from the look on his face. "And I've known about vampires, like everything you can know without either being one or knowing one personally, for about 5, maybe 7 years."

"Ok, Mick I think we can trust her to think for herself…seeing as she hasn't gone to the press yet…although being the press, she doesn't exactly have to go anywhere. Anyway, if she wants to do something then you have to authority to stop her…unless it's a matter of security then you have my full permission, but other than that, no."

"I've been taking care of her for 22 years, I-"

"Exactly, and now it is time to let her stand on her own 2 feet, let the fledgling leave the nest…although that's probably not the best terms for this occasion, maybe in a year or so perhaps." He raised his eyebrows and Beth.

It was Mick who answered "No."

Josef sighed. "Ok, fine, I give up, have it your way. You can duke it out with her on your own, but don't come complaining to me when you loose every single fight worth winning."

He stood up and walked to the door, he paused just before opening it, and turned to look at Beth. "Oh, and Beth, I was told to inform you that you would be getting pay back from Natasha…something about you and Mick having her thinking you two were still fighting or some such thing." He was gone, and the door closed before Beth could even blink.

She turned back to Mick. "Look, we're not going to agree on this, so can we at least agree to disagree?"

"And just which dilemma are we talking about?"

"My last name, dolt." Mick frowned for a moment, then seemed to get it.

"Fine, but I am _not_ turning you."

"Not right now, no."

"Not ever."

"Two words; Tasha, and Josef." Mick closed his eyes.

"Ok, technically that's three words, not two, and can we figure this out some other time when we are not completely stressed out, please?"

Beth nodded. "Just one more thing; if you'd never been a vampire, how would I have met you?"

Mick seemed to have nothing with which to reply to that statement with so he changed the subject. "So what are we doing?"

"We are going over to my house, for a date, and I am going to again try and cure you of your monster complex, sound good?

Mick sighed. "Do I have a choice?" Beth grinned.

"Do I 'really' have to answer that?"

Mick shook his head. "Fine, let's go." Beth grabbed her things, and was about to walk out, when she realized Mick wasn't following.

"Mick, come on." When he didn't move, she walked over, grabbed his hand, and started to drag him towards the door…or at least she tried to. Mick dug his heals in, and wouldn't budge.

"Beth…" He sighed. "Don't…don't you think you're doing this a little…to fast?"

"Doing what?"

He gestured between the two of them. "You and me."

"First of all, it's an 'us', and no I don't think we're going to fast."

"But-"

"If you don't want to talk about the last name subject _now,_ you will stop fighting."

Mick sighed. "Fine." He went forward without complaint.

* * *

Again I am very sorry that it took so long to update, hopefully getting this chapter up will help.

PP


	26. Chapter 26

Well, here it is, not entirely happy with it, and it's a bit longer than normal, but oh well.

Not mine, yeah, yeah.

* * *

Chapter 26

Beth was curled up next to Mick on the couch, the credits for the movie rolling across the TV screen. Mick was looking at Beth, with a curious expression on his face. He seemed slightly annoyed with her for trusting him enough to fall asleep next to him…although this wasn't the first time she'd done it; it was the first time since he'd been aware that she knew what he was. But annoyance was slowly fading into awe, and admiration. Were her self preservation instincts ever going to wake up? Most humans wouldn't be able to even relax in his presence, let alone fall asleep next to him! He shook his head in frustration.

Stubborn, that didn't even begin to describe her…true he was the same, but at least he had reason to be. When would she realize that he wasn't a 'Guardian Angel'; as she called him in her letters? His gaze drifted over to the box resting innocently on the table. He still couldn't believe she'd kept those he had written back all this time. He ignored the fact that he had kept hers as well.

Beth started to toss and turn, slightly, not enough to catch a human's notice, but certainly enough to catch his attention. She began to mumble, not words really, just sounds. Her tossing was getting worse, and he held her close. So she wouldn't fall…or so he told himself.

"No, Mick, no, please, don't-" She sounded afraid; he sighed, he knew this would happen eventually…he just hadn't thought it would happen this soon. But it was better this way, now he could get out of her life without feeling guilty about hurting her.

"Mick please." She sounded desperate. Unable to stand listening to Beth please with him in her dreams, Mick carefully got up, and lay her back on the couch. He stared at her for a long moment, then left.

***

Beth opened her eyes; something was wrong, and not just what had happened her dream. She shivered, the memory of Mick letting her die, of him not turning her, came a little to close his attitude towards her being turned for comfort. She looked around, Mick wasn't in the room…and she sensed he wasn't in the house either. She sighed, grabbing the phone, and pressing the speed dial.

It rang for several minutes.

"Hello, this is Mick St. John, I can't-" She hung up when she got his voicemail. She tried his home phone, again no answer. She frowned at the phone in her hand, why wasn't he answering? She stood up and walked to the window, and could have hit herself for her stupidity as she glanced at the clock. It was 10 in the morning; he would be asleep by now. She'd call later. For some reason she didn't feel any better than she had before.

As she got ready for work, Phantom picked up on her unease and followed her everywhere she went…although he didn't follow her into the shower this time, he just sat on the counter waiting for her to finish so he could resume he trailing after her.

The uneasy feeling she had continued throughout the day. Something wasn't right, something to do with Mick…she just didn't know what, and that made her frustrated; which in turn, she vented on anyone stupid enough to try talking to her for more than ten seconds.

By the time she was heading out to go home, just about everyone at Buzzwire had learned the hard way that she was in a bad mood. She headed towards the door…and groaned, why did he have to come now?! Her dark mood was just going to get worse.

Josh was waiting by her car. Beth gritted her teeth in annoyance. Couldn't the guy take a hint? She walked out, slowly; hoping that the few extra seconds would help her control her temper…which was already boiling dangerously close to the surface.

"Hey, Beth. Look I was just wondering if you had any plans for this evening cause-" He trailed away as Beth's eyes seemed to glow angrily from within. "Hey, is something wrong?"

"Oh no, nothing, why would anything be wrong?" If he didn't get out of her way; and soon; he was going to regret it…and by tomorrow so would she.

"Well you just look like you-"

"Like what?!" She spat. "Like some idiot can't or won't get the idea through his thick, stupid head that I am not interested in him nor have I ever been! Like I've been on edge all day waiting for someone to call me, who hasn't! Someone that I am very concerned about because he just found out something that changes his life drastically! Was 'that' what you were thinking?!" She was breathing heavily, her face flushed. "Now get out of my way, I have somewhere I have to be."

Josh frowned. "Beth, I really don't think you should be driving when you're this-" Beth completely lost it.

"Get out of my way and leave me the hell alone or so help me I will 'make' you!" Josh stumbled back in some surprise.

"Beth, something is wrong, let me take you home-" Beth gave a half scream, half growl of frustration.

"MOVE!" She gave him a push that nearly sent him sprawling. "You need to learn when to just shut up and go, and learn it 'fast'!" She unlocked her car, got in, and slammed the door. She started up the engine and took off at the highest speed she felt comfortable with…which at this time…was rather high. She gripped the wheel tightly with both hands, her knuckles white, fighting to keep herself from screaming.

Within ten minutes she was in front of Mick's place. She slammed the door shut and headed up. She knocked…no answer. She knocked again. Still nothing. Huffing, she called Natasha.

"Hey."

"Natasha, what is the pass code to get into Mick's, again?"

"Whoa, did someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

"No Tasha I didn't even wake up in a bed, but something is wrong, I just don't know what, Mick hasn't answered his phone, either of them, and he's not coming to the door."

"Ok, ok, it's 421-MESJ-Mdngt. Happy?"

"Thank you." She hung up, and punched in the numbers, and walked in…or tried to. The door was manually locked.

"Mick, I know you're in there, please open the door." Nothing. "Mick, please!" She was starting to get desperate. "Mick please at least tell me you're ok." Still she got no response. She called Natasha again.

"What now? Did he change it?"

"No, he's got it locked manually, and he's not answering."

Beth could almost hear the frown in Natasha's voice. "Beth are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure, I put the pass code in, the handle turned, but the door wouldn't open. Natasha please, I need to get in; or at least find out what's going on!"

"Beth calm down, everything will-" Beth cut her off.

"Don't tell me to calm down Natasha! Mick isn't answering his phones, he's not coming to the door and it's locked manually, that means he has to be inside, and either hurt enough that he can't answer, or I did something to make him ignore me, and though I'd hate for it to be true, I'm hoping it's the second!" Tears escaped her eyes, what was going on, why was Mick avoiding her, and if he wasn't, then what was wrong?

"Beth, you need to calm down, you have to be able to think clearly."

Beth drew in a few slow breaths, hoping they would clear her head, they did…a little. "Ok, what should I do?"

"Ok, if Mick is in there, then the best thing for you to do is to just keep talking, if he's hurt, then that way he knows he's not alone, if he's not and he's just avoiding you, then eventually his guilt will get the better of him and he'll open the door. You got that?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, I'll be over in a few minutes."

"Ok, thanks."

"No problem, seen you in a few."

Beth put her phone away, and leaned against the door, slowly she slid down it until she was sitting on the floor, curled as close as she could get to the door. "Mick, if you're in there, I'm not going anywhere unless you open this door and tell me what is going on."

She hugged her bag closer to her, finding no comfort in it, but needing something to cling to. "What did I do? Please just tell me and-" She stopped as her voice caught. She tried blinking back the tears, but it just caused them to spill over. "Did I do something wrong? Mick, please just say something if you're ok." She bit her lip when she received no reply.

"Fine, then I'm not leaving. I'm going to sit here until someone who can get in comes, and then I'll find out what is going on. I don't care if you want me dead, I'll just stay here long enough to make sure you are ok…after that I'll go…if-if you don't want me here, I can handle it, I-I mean, come on I'm-I'm just a human, what-what would you want me around for. All I ask is that you give me-give me a reason." Although she was sick silly with worry, she knew that if he was ok, only her talking like that would make him feel guilty enough to open the door for her. "Yeah, I'll-I'll go apologize to Josh and-and take him up on his offer for tonight, or whenever it is I see-" She fell onto her side as the door opened, removing her support. She looked up.

Mick was standing there, his face covered in shadow. She scrambled to her feet, and hugged him with all her strength. He just stood there, impassive. Beth pulled back, staring at his face. His eyes seemed to sear her where she stood. They were cold. They were his normal brown, but not infused with the warmth she had become accustomed to. Beth wondered if even his vampire eyes could be that penetrating.

"Well, I'm fine, you can go now." Beth drew in her breath, bit her lip, and closed her eyes.

"Fine-just-just tell me-tell me why."

"You already gave it, you're a human. Why would I want you around." This was so contradictory to what he'd said yesterday that Beth knew he was lying; she just didn't know why.

"That's bull and we both know it." Beth turned to see Natasha walking over.

"Really, and since when do you know my mind better than I do?"

"Mick don't start shit like this with me! Just tell her what's wrong; I'm sure she has a good excuse."

"Oh really, and how do you know what happened?"

"I stopped by Beth's place on my way here." Beth frowned in confusion, what had happened at her house?

Mick looked back down at her, saying nothing.

Natasha sighed. "Beth, what were you dreaming last night?"

Beth shivered. "I-I was dying and Mick…he-he wouldn't turn me. I begged, I pleaded with him to but-he-he wouldn't do it. I begged him to not let me d-die, but…" She trailed away, not noticing that Mick was staring at her, shock plain on his face. "Why do you ask?"

"In your sleep you said 'Mick' and something about 'no' and 'please', it's been almost twenty-four hours, so the memory wasn't very clear." Understanding dawned in Beth's eyes.

"No, Mick no." She closed her eyes. "Mick if I were at all afraid of you, don't you think you would be able to tell? Wouldn't you be able to smell it?"

"Then where is the fear coming from now?"

"Mick I've just gone through half my day, wondering if you were all right. I just sat outside your door talking to you constantly in case you weren't; am I not allowed to be afraid _for_ you?"

Mick said nothing, but his eyes weren't quite so cold anymore.

"Mick, please just…say something, anything." Mick continued to stare at her, as if he'd never seen her before.

***

Mick heard her, but it was as though she was talking through water, it was indistinct, and he couldn't catch all of it. A thought was coming to his head, slowly, very slowly, but he knew that if he just waited for it, everything would make a lot more sense.

"Mick, are you there? Mick answer me." Beth was starting to sound slightly worried, he didn't want that, and the thought was almost there.

Finally after several more seconds, it came. _Beth wasn't afraid of him, she never had been._

He looked at Beth again, she was biting her lip, and seemingly fighting to stay where she was and not rush at him and find out what was wrong. He registered dimly that Natasha was standing off to the side, but he paid her no attention. "Beth-" He broke off, unsure of how he was supposed to word this. He looked down at the floor, then almost immediately looked back up at her. She seemed to know what he wanted to ask be cause she shook her head.

"No, I wasn't afraid of you. I was afraid of _leaving_ you…or you leaving me." She looked unsure as she finished, as though she still expected him to want her gone.

"I-I'm sorry." At her heartbroken expression he rushed to explain. "No, no, not-I don't." He bit his lip, why was this so hard?! "I don't-I want you to stay." There he'd finally said it. "I meant I was sorry for ignoring you…all day; and…" Beth stopped him by pressing her hand to his mouth.

She gave a one-sided smirk. "Stop, you're starting to ramble." He smirked back.

"Oh really; are you telling me you do not want to hear my ramblings?"

The smirk turned into a smile. "Yes, I am."

Mick rolled his eyes. "Fine."

"Finally, now will you two please try and maintain this peace for at least a few days, so I don't have to deal with crying fledgling wanna-bees, and sulking vampires attempting isolationism, just for my sake…please." She gave a puppy face…that didn't quite work, as she vamped out halfway through, allowing her fangs to peak out.

Mick frowned at her description of Beth, but didn't say anything.

Beth grinned. "Yeah, we can try; don't know how successful we'll be; but yeah, we can try." Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Oh, and Beth…at your work, there's a guy sitting where you normally park, do you know who it could be?"

She groaned. "It's probably Josh. I think I scared him earlier when I almost ran him over. He can't take a hint…" She looked at Mick. "You know, if you and Josh switched personalities, it would be great, you never stop trying to keep me away, and he can't get it through his head that persistence doesn't always mean you win." Mick glared at her, where did she come up with stuff like this?

Natasha smirked. "But wouldn't that take all the fun out of it?"

Beth cocked her head, thinking for a moment, then nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you're right, I prefer him like this." Mick rolled his eyes at their antics…although he was interested in finding out who this 'Josh' person was.

"Look, when you two've finished deciding if you prefer me this way or not, I would like to decide on something." Beth turned back to him, her eyebrows raised.

"Oh…and what might that be?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe when you two are done, I'll tell you." Beth and Natasha look at each other out of the corner of their eyes; they nod, and turn to Mick.

Natasha grinned. "We're done." Mick raised an eyebrow.

"Are you serious…that's it, that's all it takes?" If all he had to do was mention he had something he wanted to decide…well, it could prove very useful later on…although right now he'd have preferred they kept talking.

"Um…yeah, why, did you expect it to be harder?" Beth kept her face and tone solemn, but the glint in her eyes gave away the laughter she was holding back.

"Ok, before you two decide to continue…" Mick hesitated, biting his lip; did he really want to bring this up?

"Hey, Mick, hello, what do you want us to decide on?"

***

As she looked at him, Mick seemed to just stare at her. Was he talking about what she thought he was? If he was, and he wanted to come to a decision…then hopefully with Tasha there she would have a fighting chance.

"I-you-" He sighed. "I don't like the idea, but-" Beth held her breath. "If-if it gives you nightmares-then we-we should probably come to a decision about it, right?" Breathless, and unable to fully trust her voice, Beth simply nodded. "Ok…well if-if that situation ever comes up-I'll-I'll let you decide…ok?" Again she nodded. "Right, that's solved." Beth frowned, and shook her head.

"What, did-did I forget something?"

"What if-what if that never-never comes up?"

"Oh, well-"

"How about we go with this idea for a while, but in two years…and if I haven't been turned…you'll leave the decision up to me in case I want to be turned anyway."

Mick frowned, it was one thing if she was dying, it was quite another to have to actually kill her. "Beth-"

"No Mick, if I have not been turned by then, and I want to be, then you can't stop me. I'm not saying I will want to, but I want to have my options open." Natasha snorted, and Beth glared at her.

"What?"

"Oh, just the 'having your options open' thing, we all know you'll want to be turned eventually…I'm just confused as to why you picked two years from now?"

Beth sighed, and bit her lip.

Natasha thought for a moment, then grinned. "Ah, I understand, you'll be 29 then, almost 30 and you don't want to have to deal with being 31, I get it." Mick frowned, then rolled his eyes as he understood.

Beth gave a small smile. "Yeah, that's basically the gist of it."

"Ok, now is it solved?"

Beth sighed. "Not quite."

Mick groaned. "What else?"

"Who will turn me?"

Mick froze…this was not on his 'want to discuss' list…then again, nothing of this conversation had been. "I don't know…Natasha I guess."

Beth shook her head. "No."

Mick closed his eyes. "Beth, I don't think I could live with myself if I did it unless you were already dying."

Beth shook her head. "Ah…no, I didn't mean you, I was thinking I'd like Josef to do it." Both Mick and Natasha looked at her.

"Why Josef?" Natasha looked confused.

"Because the word 'sire' automatically makes me think of 'father'…not friend, or boy-friend, or lover." Mick looked at her sharply at that word. "And I don't want myself think 'father' when I think of either of you…and Josef I think could probably handle. If I had to choose between the three of you, it would be him…if some other option becomes available, then I'll take it…as long as it's within reason of course."

Natasha nodded, and so did Mick after a moment later.

"But if I'm dying where I am, then any of you three had better do it, and someone had better tell Josef about that too."

Natasha sighed. "Well, looks like I get to have fun…"

"Doing…?"

"Convincing Josef to agree to possible turn someone."

"Why?"

"Nothing, I-it's not my-"

"Story to tell?" Beth half asked, half finished for her.

Natasha nodded. "Yeah." She gave a soft smile and shrugged.

"Figures that Josef would have something hidden from me." Mick gave a wry grin. "I mean, I've known him for a while yeah, but I don't know everything…and neither does he, and we both know it."

Natasha grinned. "Yes well, everyone has their secrets, do we not?"

Beth smirked back. "Of course."

Natasha walked towards the door. "Well, now that the crisis has been averted, I'm going to take a nap, catch you love birds later." She walked out, leaving Mick and Beth to figure out a safe subject to talk about.

* * *

No not everything is resolved, and Mick still has...second thoughts about Beth being turned, but he is trying.

PP


	27. Chapter 27

Ok, sorry guys, was supposed to have this up weeks ago. My muse disappeared, then came back with friends, left the friends with me to babysit...and took off again. So I went looking for it and I think it's back to stay for a while. But then I lost my memory stick...which sucks. So then I tried to re-create the chapter...and didn't like how it turned out. So I ended up re-writing the whole thing...and getting part of the next one written so I have something to fall back on.

Ok, next on my list is...I an not going to leave this as long as I have been in the past year, without updating. Hopefully the most I will make you guys wait is a week, maybe 2 weeks, at least without prior warning. If I'm going on vacation, or for some reason will not be able to update for a while I will let you know in the A/N at the end of the chapter before I go. If I don't put a chapter up before I leave, then I'll have the message on my profile instead.

* * *

Chapter 27

Beth lay there, comfortably warm, not wanting to move. She burrowed into the covers more, and pressed her face into the pillow, trying to get back to sleep. Distantly she became aware of a vibrating coming from somewhere over her feet. The source of the vibrations moved, and she felt part slide over her feet. Then came the pin pricks.

"Ahh!" She sat bolt upright, pulling her feet in close to her. Phantom looked up at her from the end of the bed…but wait, the eyes were blue…Phantom's were gold. "Midnight!" The cat started to purr again, and walked over to Beth, rubbing up against her, obviously pleased with herself for getting Beth to wake up. Rolling her eyes, Beth stroked the cat's head.

Beth looked around, she was at Mick's house, that was obvious, but where was he?

"Beth?!" She looked up in surprise. Mick was standing in the doorway; concern clearly written on his face…her gaze didn't stay at his face for long though. He was naked from the waist up, and he had a silvery sheen…almost like water, on his chest. "Beth?" Her eyes jerked back up to his, and she fought down a blush. "Are you all right?"

Quickly she nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. _Someone _just decided to mix on my feet." She stared pointedly at the cat purring contentedly next to her both to keep her eyes off Mick and also to explain her cry.

"Ah, well…I guess I should…yeah." He left, and Beth groaned, falling back into the pillows.

Midnight butted her head against Beth's arm. Beth glared at the cat, who looked back innocently. Beth sighed, she couldn't be angry with her, and reached out to scratch her chin. Midnight purred.

Beth sat up as her phone went off. She grabbed her pants from where they lay on the chair next to the bed and pulled out her phone. It was Josh. Beth groaned. She did 'not' want to talk to him at all right now. She let it ring. Finally it stopped, seconds later it beeped. Beth gave an exasperated sigh and punched in her voicemail password.

"Hey, Beth it's Josh. Look I'm sorry about yesterday; I hope you're feeling better now. Well, anyway, I thought you might like to have the insider's look at my case. I don't wanna say anything on here, but call me and we'll get together sometime so we can figure out the details. Talk later, bye Beth."

Beth groaned and deleted the message. Josh must have known she'd never be able to resist working a story around a case. Damn him. Grumbling under her breath about men and how annoying they could be when they wanted, Beth grabbed the change of clothes she'd dropped next to the bed last night and went into the bathroom to shower.

Twenty minutes later she walked downstairs. She sniffed, smelling what seemed to be bacon. She hurried into the kitchen seeing Mick standing in front of the stove, bacon sizzling in front of him.

"Hey there." He said without turning around. "Take a seat, breakfast is almost done."

"Hey yourself, where did all the food come from?"

"I went out last night after you went to bed; I figured you'd want breakfast." He shrugged, still not turning around. "I wasn't sure what you'd want, so I got a bit of everything. There's some stuff for quick dinners, or lunches if you decide you wanna stop by some time."

"Are you sure you came up with this on your own?"

"Hey, I resent that…Ok, ok, so Natasha came up with the idea of buying you food so you could eat here if you wanted, but I'm the one who thought of making you breakfast, come on that's gotta count for something right."

Beth nodded, then realized he couldn't see that. "Yeah, thank you, and yes it does count. It smells wonderful."

This time her turned and grinned. "Thank you, it's been a while so the pancakes may taste strange and the home fries might be a bit raw, but they should be ok." He shrugged. "Just giving you fair warning."

Beth laughed. "Well I guess I'll cut you some slack then."

Mick grabbed a plate and set the bacon on it, letting it cool. "There's milk in the fridge if you want some, I wasn't sure what kind I should get, so I hope you're happy with 2%. And there's also a few juices, think I grabbed some raspberry, apple, and a few others." He said, opening the oven and pulling a heaping plate of pancakes out, still steaming some.

Beth grinned. "That's all I drink, can't stand the fat free, it tastes like watered down milk…looks like it too." She wrinkled her nose. "Bleh." She went over and pulled out the half carton of milk and went over to grab a glass that was sitting by the sink, having just been washed.

"No!"

Beth jerked her hand back as Mick came over and put the glass away. "Mick, what's wrong with-"

Mick shook his head went over to a bag that was sitting on the table, and pulled out a red-tinged glass. "Here, I got you your own glass." He shrugged a bit uncomfortably. "I just didn't think you'd like drinking out of a glass that-" He trailed off, shuffling his feet.

Beth sighed. "No Mick, I-I didn't even think about it, thank you, but you didn't have to do that. I would have managed. I know what you are, and that means I have to learn to understand how you do things. It wouldn't have bothered me, but thank you for thinking of it." She went to Mick and took the glass from him. "So what all did you make me? Pancakes and bacon?"

"And home fries."

"Oh yeah." She smirked. "You warned me they might be a bit raw."

"That's it, I figured that was plenty for one person."

Beth looked at the heaping plate of pancakes, then to the stove where there was a pan with home fries in it, and finally towards the bacon that Mick had just set on the table.

"Ok, Mick I understand you were at one time a bachelor; and you probably could eat all this at once…but this is enough for me for at least 2 breakfasts…and I eat a lot."

Mick grinned sheepishly. "Hey, it's my first time cooking in over 50 years, give me a break." Slowly Beth smiled. "What? What are you thinking Beth Turner? I know that look."

"Oh nothing…I just wouldn't want to waste all this good food." She shrugged. "I guess I'll have to come here tomorrow morning so I can finish it."

"Uh…Beth…" She looked up. "Why don't you try the food to see if you like it or not before you decide to come here tomorrow, k?

Beth rolled her eyes. "All right fine." She grabbed the plate that was sitting on the table, and grabbed a bit of everything. "Any maple syrup?"

Mick nodded. "I hope you like the real stuff…I couldn't stand to buy anything else." He pulled out a container of Grade A maple syrup and set it on the table next to her plate.

Beth shrugged. "I like both, but the real kind has a slightly tangy taste, plus I like it more, so yeah, it's fine."

"Ah, well that's good then." He went over and stood by his fridge, watching her.

"Mick…you can sit down you know…and you can eat your own breakfast too if you want." She then drenched her home fries, bacon, and pancakes in the maple syrup.

Mick sighed and sat down, but didn't get any blood out of his hidden fridge. "No Beth, not-not yet. It's still…still-"

"Mick." He looked up at her. "I said if you wanted, not that you had to." She took a bite of the bacon, nodded, took a piece of home fry, and began and started to smile. As she swallowed a bite of her pancakes, the smile had turned into a full fledged grin. "Mick St. John if this is how you cook all the time I could get extremely spoiled."

"You like it?"

Beth grinned. "This food is to die for; you could be a chef with food like this."

Mick laughed. "Ok, if my PI business fails, then I'll look into it."

"You'd make millions, and I'm sure-"

Her phone ringing interrupted her. She looked at it. She groaned, Josh...again. "Hold on one minute." "Yes Josh."

"Hey, Beth did you get my message?"

"No, I'm eating breakfast."

"Oh, didn't you hear me call your house phone?"

Beth frowned. "I'm not at my house, and how did you get that number?"

"Where are you? I'll come and pick you up so I can fill you in."

"No, I need my car later for Buzzwire."

"Come on, I'll drop you off when I'm done, we can go grab some lunch before that."

"Josh, I'm eating breakfast, I won't be hungry."

"Well, then how about breakfast tomorrow?"

"No, I'm gonna be eating here again." Beth pursed her lips, did he ever listen?

"Well how about I join you?"

"Josh no, that isn't-"

"Just tell me where it is and I'll stop by now."

"Josh no, wait I-"

"Come on, where are you?"

"Hey Beth?" Mick was smirking at the exasperated expression on Beth's face.

"Ok, hold on one second Josh." She looked up at Mick. "Yeah?"

"Just tell him to come here." He shrugged; a hint of a smirk on his face. "I'm sure he'll get the idea when he gets here."

Beth grinned, catching on. "Ok, Josh, here I got the address for you, you ready?"

"Yup, I have pen and paper right now."

Beth gave him the address and hung up.

"This is gonna be so fun." She bit her lip. "Can I have one of your shirts?"

"Why would you want one of my shirts?"

Beth sighed, looking exasperated. "Mick." Mick's eyes widened a fraction.

He cleared his throat. "Um…yeah, yeah sure, I'll…I'll go get one for you now." He took off upstairs and was back before she could take another bite. "Here." He handed her a black pinstripe shirt. She could see that when she put it on it would go down past her knees.

"Great, this'll work perfectly." She ate a few more mouthfuls. "I'd better stop, otherwise I won't be able to eat when he gets here…oh wait…I should probably finish just as he gets here. So it doesn't look strange that you didn't eat." Beth frowned. "Hm…Oh, here." She went and got another plate from the cabinet, and pushed some of her food onto it, moving it around to make it look as though it had been used. "There." She grabbed a fork and set it on the plate. "Just leave them there for now; we can put them away when he gets here." She set it close to hers.

"Ok, I'll go change; can you put this stuff in the fridge please? Oh!" She rushed over to the cupboard, intent on getting something, but Mick grabbed her shoulders, and turned her around, smirking slightly.

"Beth, calm down and go change, I can take care of everything down here."

"Are you sure? I could help if you-"

"Beth, I'll be done by the time you get that shirt of yours-I mean, uh…by…by the time you get up the stairs." He pushed her toward the stairs and hurried away.

Beth smirked, ran up to the room, and quickly changed. She came back down, wearing only Mick's shirt and a short pair of shorts that were hidden completely by the shirt, her own in her hands. On the table was another glass, with some type of juice in it…looked like apple but she couldn't tell for sure. The pans were in the sink, all the extra Mick had cooked out of sight; most likely in the fridge already.

Mick was over by the fireplace, his own shirt in his hands. "Hey." She called; he turned in response, and froze. His gaze started at her feet, and slowly dragged up to her face. When he finally looked her in the eyes, Beth blushed at the blazing look on his face, but didn't look away, she didn't think she could have even if she'd wanted to. She shivered as his eyes started to move back down.

Mick took a step forward, but a knock on the door made them both jump. His eyes jerked back up to hers, the blazing look still there, but less intense...hidden slightly by his usual wariness. "What's that for?" He gestured at her shirt. Beth hardly recognized his voice; it was hoarser and warmer than normal.

"Oh!" She hurried over to the couch and dropped it in front of it. She went over to him, reached out and took his, keeping here eyes locked with his.

Mick groaned. "Beth Turner, just who are you trying to get to here?"

Beth looked at him, her eyes sparkling. "Am I allowed to say both of you?" Mick closed his eyes, shaking his head, as though trying to clear it and went to answer the door, while Beth put his shirt on the floor a few feet from hers after pulling it half inside out.

"Is this him Beth?" He yelled rather loudly, making sure Josh could hear it on the other side.

"Yeah, it's him." Also rather loudly.

Mick opened the door. "Hey, we weren't exactly expecting company so the place is a bit of a mess, but come on in." Mick grabbed Josh's shoulder when he didn't move, and started walking him inside, kicking the door shut behind them with his foot.

"Uh…Beth you here? Who is thi-" He stopped talking and his jaw dropped as Beth came into view. His eyes bulged, taking in the over-large shirt she was wearing, obviously not one of hers, and her apparent lack of clothing on the lower part of her body. "What the hell is going on here?!"

* * *

Again, I am very sory about the long wait, hopefully I can get back on track.

PP


	28. Chapter 28

A/N-A quick thank you to RobinxHoodxFan09 who noticed that in Chapter 8 I had said that Beth was kidnapped when she was four, that is not fixed, and she _was_ taken when she was five for anyone who got confused by that. Thank you again.

Ok, here it is, I am extremely glad I kept to my word and did _not_ make you wait longer than two weeks *cheer* yay! Let's hope it sticks for the next month.

* * *

Chapter 28

Beth fiddled with her bottom of the shirt, attempting to look uncomfortable rather than showing the anger that she was currently feeling. What did it matter what was going on? It wasn't any of his business. Realizing he was still waiting for an answer, she quickly forced out what she hoped sounded like a reasonably response. "I-I tried telling you…but you wouldn't listen, so Mick said to just tell you to come here." She shrugged. "Um…you said you wanted to talk to me about a case." She said, grabbing the plates and both glasses, taking them to the sink.

"Oh…uh, yeah….is there a place we can sit down?"

"Yeah, come on, this way." Mick led him over to the couch.

"Um…Mick, I'm gonna go get dressed." She turned to go, then seemed to spot her shirt laying half hidden under the couch. She quickly thought of something embarrassing…her reaction this morning to Mick walking in the bed room topless worked well enough. She hurried forward; keeping her head bowed as she felt the heat flood her face; and grabbed it, seeming to notice and grab Mick's as well.

"Um…Mick." He looked at her. "Here." She bit her lip at the look on Josh's face.

"Oh uh…yeah." He took it, and slipped it over his head. Beth allowed herself to frown in disappointment as the shirt covered what she had been subtly watching since she came downstairs to find it off again.

"I'll be right back…yeah." Beth hurried upstairs, feeling slightly guilty. Yes Josh was annoying…but he didn't deserve this being rubbed in his face like this.

"Hey Josh…I'll be right back...No, no, it's fine, I'll only be a second." Mick appeared at the top of the stairs a second later, his face concerned.

"Beth, is something wrong?"

"She shook her head. "No, no I'm fine, I just…"

Mick nodded in understanding. "Yeah, it does seem rather mean now doesn't it."

Beth half shrugged, half nodded. "Yeah, a bit."

"Well nothing we can do about it now."

"Yeah." She sighed. "I'd better get dressed."

"Ok…hey I…" He shook his head, and went downstairs.

Beth hurried into the bedroom, grabbed her jeans, and put them on. She went to change back to her shirt, but stopped. She was covered, why did she need to put hers on instead? Besides, this would play with Mick's head more than Josh's.

She tossed her shirt onto the bed, and went to join Mick downstairs.

She stopped on the stairs to listen as Josh asked. "So how long have you known Beth?"

"Oh a while, we met a few years ago over a case I was investigating. We kinda lost track of each other after, but met up a little while ago working the same case." Beth smiled, Mick had not lied, he just hadn't told the whole story.

"So you knew each other before?"

Beth pursed her lips before answering before Mick could. "Yes." Josh jumped, not having realized she was there.

She looked over at Mick; he was sitting in his chair. He was staring at her again, not as blazing as before, but more a warm, comforting look. He was sitting in his chair. Beth sighed, rolling her eyes, pushed his legs over, and sat next to him.

"You said you had a case you wanted to talk to me about." Feeling how tense Mick was, she gently entwined her fingers with his, resting their hands on his thigh, trying to calm him down. It didn't seem to do much…if anything it made him worse. Beth forced herself to turn her attention back to Josh, who was looking pointedly at the wall.

"Josh…"

"Oh, sorry."

"Ok, you know the case I've been working on, well…something happened." Beth stared at him blankly, how the hell was she supposed to know what cases Josh was working on? He never told her those.

"Josh I don't know what case you're talking about. You've never told me about any of them."

Josh looked momentarily confused, then looked down, sheepish. "Oh, yea…uh…I was gonna tell you that night I was over at your house…but um…well…" He shrugged.

"Oh yeah, I kicked you out." She said mildly.

Josh shifted in his seat. "Yeah...well anyway." He cleared his throat. "Ok, I've been making a case against Amir Fayed-"

Mick tensed even more. "The Arms Dealer?"

"Yeah, well there's a witness. Her name's Lenni Hayes, now she's only 22, but smart. Lenni was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She saw Amir murder one of his guys, a guy named Jack Colden. She's been in a safe house this past month, but last night…they were hit."

"Ok, so what did-" She broke off as Mick's phone buzzed.

"Hold on one minute." He got up and walked into his office.

"Guillermo, what is it?...Are you sure?...Can it wait a few minutes or do you need me to…Ok…Ok…Yeah, ok, I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Hey, look I gotta go, Guillermo says he's got something I need to look at. You gonna be ok Beth?"

"Yeah, we'll be fine, go ahead. If I need you I'll call."

"Ok, I'll be back in about…thirty minutes, maybe forty-five." He came over slowly, as if steeling himself.

"All right, see you then."

"Yeah, bye." He leaned down, and kissed her forehead, and left.

Beth sat, staring at the door he just walked out for several seconds.

"Beth…Beth…Beth!" She jumped, Josh was staring at her, looking slightly concerned.

"Oh…sorry."

"You ok?"

She blinked. "Yeah…yeah I'm fine." She shook her head. "Ok, so they were hit, what did you want to talk to me for?"

"I need you to find someone you trust; one of your contacts maybe, and convince them to find Lenni for me."

Beth frowned, her face puzzled. "What about the police?"

"I think there's a leak somewhere, so I need someone off the force on this."

"Ok, say I agree, what's in it for me?"

Josh frowned slightly. "The story of the case, and Lenni's safe recovery."

Beth nodded, she could live with that. "So any of my contacts as long as they're not on the police force, right?"

"Yeah, as long as they've had at least some experience in finding people…and I'd have to approve o them."

Beth frowned, and shook her head. "If you want my help you're gonna have to do it my way."

"And what way is that?"

"I am allowed to pick the contact, no questions asked."

"Beth, I just can't, what if-"

"No, you came to me, not the other way around."

Josh sighed. "Ok, look, what is the contact you want to choose, if I agree with your choice then there's no point in this argument."

"Very well, the contact I would choose is Mick."

Immediately Josh shook his had. "No."

"And why not?"

"Conflict of interest, you're seeing him."

"What does-" She shook her head. "Ok fine, go find someone else then."

"Wait, Beth-"

"No, I told you the requirements, you refused them, so go."

"So you'll condemn her to death?"

"I'm sure you'll be able to find someone else Josh. I can't be the only person you know with contacts that are off the police force."

"Beth, come on, just think of someone else." He stood up.

Beth's phone ringing broke him off.

"No, wait, Beth don't answer it! It's probably not very important."

Beth glared at him. "That's the ring for when Maureen calls me, it's work, so yes it is important."

She grabbed her phone.

Her voice was curt when she answered. "Yes?"

"Beth? Is something wrong?"

Beth sighed, it wasn't Mo's fault Josh was so annoying. "Sorry Mo, bad day so far, so what do you need? Anything to make my day any better?"

"You're in luck, you need to get down 1st and Main, there's something going on there, seems to have been a break-in slash murder at the convenience store."

"Ok, I'll be down there in…about twenty minutes, sound good?"

"Sounds great, I'll have Jon meet you down there."

"Ok, I'll let you know if I find anything important out."

"K."

Beth turned to Josh once Mo had hung up. "I have to go, Mo has a story she wants me to cover. So you need to leave."

Josh frowned. "Fine, but I still need to talk to you about Mick St. John."

Beth glared at him. "There's nothing to talk about, we're seeing each other yes, is it any of your business, no, are we clear enough now, or do I have to explain it some more?"

"Beth…there's just….there's something about him…look, he just gives me the creeps. I think you'd be safer away-" He was cut off as Beth's had hit the side of his face as hard as it could. He stared at her in shock. "Beth, what-"

Beth looked down in slight surprise at her hand, then looked back up at him, her eyes blazing. Josh froze; her eyes looked like tiny crown fires destroying whole cities. "Get out, and get out now before I do something I'll regret in twenty years."

"Beth, calm down, I just-"

"Don't tell to calm down! I want you to get out now!"

"Ok, ok, I'm going." He walked to the door. "It's ok Beth, I know now, I'll get you out, don't worry."

"I don't want to get out of whatever it is you think I'm stuck in, now go!"

"I know, I know, it's ok, I understand what you're trying to tell me." He looked as though he wanted to say something else, but seemed to think better of it, and left.

Beth slammed the door shut behind him, fuming. She had to get to 5th Ave before she broke something…or hurt someone. She'd call Mick and tell him that he didn't have to worry about Josh's case anymore later, right now, she had work to do.

***

As Beth pulled onto 1st and Main, a silver van did also from the other end of the street. When she parked a few yards away from the crime scene, the van pulled um next to her. It was Jon.

"Hey Beth." He began pulling out his equipment as she got out and walked over to help him.

"Ok, let's get this done with."

"You ok Beth? Normally you can't wait to get a story to work."

Beth gave a sheepish grin. "I was spending the night with my boyfriend."

Jon grinned. "And how long has this been going on? Can't have been too long."

Beth bit her lip, giving a slight shrug. "Well, we've known each other for a few years…we just got together…about a half a week ago."

"Nice going Beth, you'll have to give me all the juicy details some other time though, let's get this thing up and on the archives."

"Ok."

"At this time the police aren't releasing any details, but earlier tonight a store clerk was murdered at this downtown location. We'll post details as soon as we get them. This is Beth Turner for Buzzwire."

She held still for several seconds, then Jon said. "And we are good, ok I'll go upload this to the archives, you have a nice night." He grinned at her.

"I'm just gonna go see if I can get anything, I'll head home in a minute.

Jon shrugged. "Whatever, if it were me though, I wouldn't be standing around too long. From the way you're acting, this guy isn't anything to snub a nose at."

Beth almost allowed herself to blush. "Am I that obvious?"

"Only to someone who's known you since college."

"Ok, ok, you've had your fun teasing me, now go upload that, and quit picking on me."

Jon laughed, but left anyway.

Beth hurried over to where Carl was talking to a woman.

"It's a bloody mess in there, the guy was literally chewed up."

"A wild animal maybe?"

"In a convenience store?

"Maybe someone didn't approve of his choice of slushy flavors and sicked his dog on the poor bastard

"Pit-bull? Like the one that mauled a man in San Francisco?

"Maybe."

"Best theory so far, we'll see what the coroner says." The woman walked away with that final statement, and Carl made as if to walk away as well.

"Hey." He caught one of the officer's sleeves. "Call it a night." He sighed when he saw Beth standing only a few feet away. He walked over.

"Hey listen, whatever you heard…off the record."

"I heard, 'bloody chewed up body'" There were times Beth seriously wondered how she could act this…this flippant when there was a guy dead…and she was half joking about it…but it got on Carl's nerves so she didn't fight it.

"I said I don't want you going on with this thing."

"Then give me something." She could tell only years of dealing with her kept Carl from rolling his eyes at her as he walked toward his car. She followed. "Come on, Carl, it's me. Just give me a little something, off the record I swear.

"That's what you always say."

"And I always hold the story."

Carl looked around. "Look fine, this guy in here was not just 'chewed up', k, his blood was gone…he…somehow his body was completely drained."

Beth stared at him in surprise, had she heard him correctly? Carl mistook her surprise for shock. "Hey, Beth? You ok?" Weakly she nodded.

"I-I gotta go." She hurried away, leaving Carl with a concerned look on his face.

Beth hurried to her car, she had to call Mick and let him know a vampire victim had been taken to the morgue; he was already there with Guillermo, maybe he could find something out.

"Beth? Is something wrong?"

"No, I got a call from Maureen, saying she had a case she wanted me to work…I think there's a vampire victim heading to the morgue."

"Are you sure?"

"The body is completely drained."

"All right, well it's not here yet, so why don't you come down and we'll talk to Guillermo for a bit."

"Are you serious?" Was Mick really asking her to come with him to talk to another vampire?

"I-well…if you don't want-"

"No, no, I do…I just…wasn't sure if you were really aware of what you were asking…thanks."

"Yeah…um…sure."

"So, I'll see you in a few?"

"Yeah, oh and come around back, I'll meet you there."

"Ok, bye."

"Bye." Beth bit her lip to keep herself from grinning like a maniac. Her good mood was broken by the sense that someone was standing close behind her…she turned quickly. Jon was standing there, staring at her in shock.

* * *

He, he, yes I did leave you with that cliffie, I know, I'm mean.

Well, tell me what you thought, thanks again for reading and not giing up on me with my month long breaks vetween updates *cringe*.

PP


	29. Chapter 29

A/N-Ok, here you go guys, I think I'm actually getting the hang of this again, lol, let's hope it sticks.

* * *

Chapter 29

"Beth…did, did I just hear…"

Beth froze….damn it, he'd heard her conversation with Mick! "Jon…I…I don't know-"

"Damn it Beth! Don't lie to me! I know what I heard." He was looking rather excited rather than afraid, which confused her. "You know about vampires?"

Beth shook her head; she wasn't that stupid, nor was she going to give Mick away that easily! "Jon I don't know what you're talking about…it's just…a little…like….thing we do, me and Mi-my boyfriend we-"

"Beth come on, I know you better than that…or at least, I thought I did." He closed his eyes, and opened them again. Beth stared at him…his eyes now pale, the pupils had shrunk to pinpoints. "Now do you see?" Now he looked worried, as though afraid she would run.

"Oh my gosh! That explains everything! You never went to lunch with any of us…I never saw you eat anything…you only drank out of a bottle…it was colored…none of us could see what it was….oh damn, how could I have missed it?!"

"Um…Beth?" Jon looked worried.

"Yeah…" Slowly, extremely slowly, she pressed the speed dial to call Natasha.

"Um…that is…how do you know vampires…well…how do you know we exist?"

From the phone, Beth could hear Natasha's voice. "Hey Beth, what's up?...Hello? Beth...Beth answer me!"

Jon took a step back. "Who is that?!" His fangs were bared.

"A friend of mine…I…can I talk to her…please? You know you can kill me if I say anything bad."

"But…that's just I….I 'don't' want to kill you…"

"You won't have to, but the option is there in case-"

"Beth, who is that?! Why would he be killing you, Beth talk to me!"

Beth put the phone to her ear. "Natasha, it's ok, Jon would like to talk to you."

"Well he's gonna talk to me if he likes it or not! No one threatens my friends and gets away with it! Where are you, I'll come pick you up?"

"Tasha, it's ok, he had reason to."

"Beth, I don't care if he's Dracula himself; who by the way, doesn't exist as far as I know; he does not threaten you like that."

Jon gasped. "Let me talk to her."

Beth handed him the phone.

"No Beth! You give him the phone and he could hang up, Beth, don't do-"

"Hello?" Jon said. Bet could no longer hear what Natasha was saying, and had to settle for trying to figure out what was being said from what Jon said alone…it was rather aggravating.

"My name is Jon Cloy…Um…yes…how did you…Who…how do…I-" He broke off, his eyes widening. "Natasha?" He smirked. "Ok, I get it now…Yeah…Um…ok; will keep that in mind for next time."

Jon looked at Beth, who was looking quite unconcerned. "Um…she wants to talk to you." He held the phone out.

"Yes?"

"Beth, don't scare me like that again!"

"I'm sorry, but you were less likely to rip his head off the next time you saw him than the other two."

"All right, that is true."

"I figured you'd agree."

"So where is your…brooding half?"

"The morgue."

"Ah, you headed there?"

"Yes."

"Ok, bring Jon with you."

"Um…ok." She looked up at Jon. "Ok, I know you heard that, so go make sure you're ready cause I'm leaving soon."

He nodded, and went to sit in his van.

"Ok, anything else Tasha?"

"Nope, not that I can think of, once you get to the morgue and he sees Mick you'll be fine."

"Do they know each other?"

"Yeah, Mick's mentioned him a few times, helps him with some stuff."

"Ok, bye"

"Ok."

"And I'm sorry for scaring you…"

Natasha sighed. "It's all right."

"Ok I'll talk to you later, k?"

"Yup, sounds good to me. Catch ya later then."

"Bye." Beth hurried over to her car, stopping at Jon's van first, knocking to let him know she was leaving, then pulling out, heading for the hospital.

When they arrived several minutes later, Jon was looking around in confusion. "Ok, why did you bring me here? I know you said your boyfriend was here, but…I don't get why I had to come along."

"You'll find out in a minute. Come on, we're gonna go down the back way." She set off at a fast pace for the back. About a hundred yards away, she saw Mick step out of the shadows. She grinned, and ran the rest of the way.

"Hey."

"Hey, Come on, Guillermo's-" He paused, staring at Jon in surprise, then grinned. "Well, I was wondering when I'd see you again."

Jon shrugged, shaking his head. "When Beth said her boyfriend was at the morgue I didn't think anything of it. I never considered that it might be someone I knew." He turned to Beth. "You never said you knew this guy, what're you doin' hanging around a dark brooding fellow like him?"

Beth gave a half shrug. "I don't know, and besides, you never said you knew him either."

"Fair enough." He turned to Mick. "Ok, what's your excuse?"

"Well, half the same as hers, and half…I didn't want to share." Beth hit him on the arm, hard.

"Hey!"

"What?"

Beth shook her head, rolling her eyes at him. "Anyway, how do you guys know each other?"

Both of them looked uncomfortable. "Well…I'm about…ten years younger than Mick here."

"Ok."

"We share the same sire; she turned me trying to make him jealous."

Beth turned to Mick. "Did it work?"

Mick shook his head. "I was just glad she was leaving me alone." He shrugged. "I did eventually feel bad for this sucker though and helped him break ties." He winced. "Of course, doing that made her think I was getting him out of the way so I could get her back…"

Beth placed her hand on his arm. "It's ok Mick, she's gone."

He smiled dimly. "A fact I have you to be thankful for."

Jon looked at Beth in surprise. "Wait, she-no, Mick why didn't you tell me." Mick shrugged, and Jon turned to Beth. "Thank you." Beth looked confused, so Jon elaborated. "For helping Mick get out of that witch's clutches. I knew he would either find someone to help him out, or would someday kill himself trying to get away from her, I am very grateful it was the former."

"Oh." Beth allowed herself to blush this time. "Um…thank you then."

Jon smirked. "So why are we here?"

"The convenience store clerk, he was drained, I figured the body would end up here at some point and Mick was here already meeting Guillermo for something, so I asked him to check it out." She looked at Mick. "Did you get anything?"

"Yeah, the body was already here, that's why he called to tell me to get down there."

"So it was a vampire."

"Yeah, a newly turned one."

"A fledgling?" Beth frowned. "But don't sires control their turns to keep them from killing people?"

Mick nodded. "Yeah, for some reason this one isn't."

Jon frowned. "That goes against all rules we have though."

"Yeah, I know." Mick looked at Beth. "Do you know how much longer at the police going to be there?"

Beth nodded. "Yeah, Carl said night just before we talked, so I'm thinking they'll be gone soon. Why? Do you need to get down there?"

Mick nodded. "Yes, and preferably without the cops around so we can actually do things our own way."

"So how come you guys kept in touch after she was dead?"

Jon shrugged. "I liked reporting, only behind the scenes, and Mick liked the investigation and saving people. I let him know if someone needed help, or someone was kidnapped and the police seemed to be getting no where with the case, and if he got a juicy tidbit that would make for a really cool story, he left me know. It was a win-win situation basically."

"Ah." She turned to Mick. "So how come you didn't tell me you knew him?"

"Well…up until about…what was it, a week ago, I didn't even know you knew vampires existed, and the past week has gone by a bit…fast. I never got the chance, and truthfully, it slipped my mind that you knew Jon."

"All right, I guess that's an 'ok' answer."

"Yeah, yeah, can we get back to this crime scene? I wanna take a look around as soon as possible."

"All right, all right, come on, you big baby."

"No, it's just the sooner I get there, the sooner I can start looking for this guy, and that means there are less opportunities for him to find another person to snack on."

Beth wrinkled her nose. "Ok, I get the idea, let's go."

"Um…I'm gonna take a rain check on this one guys. Gotta get your report loaded onto the archives."

"Oh, sorry Jon, I totally forgot."

He grinned. "Hey, with this much excitement, I'll let you slide this time.

"Thanks Jon, I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Sure will." He got in his van, and drove off.

Beth turned to Mick. "Well, that was certainly an interesting revelation."

"To put it mildly. So what else did Josh have to say after I left?"

Beth frowned. "Talk about mood dampener."

"Why? What happened?" Mick was immediately concerned.

Beth rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "He wanted me to pick a contact outside the police force, to find Lenni."

"Ok."

"The only person I know who has any…experience in finding people is you."

"Ok, so…"

"He didn't want you on the case, something about conflict of interest." She huffed. "Ugh, I could have killed him."

"Why? What did he do?"

Beth bit her lip. "For some reason he seems to think something is wrong with you, cause I got mad at him and he went all…strange on me. Said he understood now and…" She paused. "Why don't you just do your 'smell the past' thing when we get back to your house?"

Mick smirked. "Cheater."

Beth gave a wide-eyed stare. "Pweaaaaase." She threw in her puppy face for good measure.

Mick rolled his eyes at her antics. "All right, come on; let's get over to that store then."

Beth grinned. "K, meet you there." She rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek. The look of shock on his face as she pulled back turned her grin into a full-fledged smirk. She hurried to her car before he could react, and retraced her previous trip back to where she had just left.

As she got out of her car, Mick was already there, she smiled innocently up at him. "Hey."

"Don't 'hey' me; that was a dirty trick you played."

"Oh?" Beth knew her eyes were sparkling, reflecting the mischief she was feeling.

"Yes."

"Oh…well, you can pay be back later, like you said, the sooner you start looking for him, the less people he can kill."

Mick glared at her. "No fair using my own words against me." She walked up to him, slowly, and he watched her warily. Leaning close again, she whispered in his ear.

"And what may I ask, is your basis for comparison?"

Mick growled, pulling away. "Come on; let's find this guy…preferably 'before' you drive me insane."

"Fine." She pulled away, with just a hint of a grin.

She grabbed his hand, pulling him under the yellow tape with her. She went to go inside, but he stopped.

"No, wait…" He walked over to a book lying several yards down the street. It was lying in a pool of blood, almost dry.

"What is it?"

"It's the sire's, it's a book of some kind…looks like it has notes in it." Beth looked around; not seeing anything that looked like it could lead anywhere, she pulled out her phone.

"Mick, whoever was turned probably has a car correct?"

Mick thought for a moment. "Probably, the quick look I got of him off the dead clerk didn't make me think of a homeless person, so yeah I'd say that's a good guess."

"K, give me a minute."

She dialed Sam's number.

"Hello."

"Hey Sam, can you check the police records, see if there is an record of something happening, or a car being found on 1st and Main."

"Yeah, you're gonna owe me."

"Yeah I know, but someone's life could depend on this."

"All right, all right. Hold on a minute while I look it up."

"K, thanks.'

"Don't think me 'til after you pay me back."

Beth laughed. "Ok." Several seconds later Sam was back.

"Ok, there were no reports of a hit and run, no 911 calls, but there was an abandoned car towed from near the intersection."

"Whose car was it?"

"Um…it says it's registered to Dr. Jeffrey Pollock."

"Thank you, do you have his address?"

"Yeah, 2810 Hillside Drive."

"Thank you, I totally owe you!"

"Yeah, we established this at the beginning."

"All right, thanks I gotta go." She hung up and turned to Mick.

"Did you get all that?"

"Yeah, only problem is, we're also going to have to deal with the sire."

"Well can't we deal with him later?"

Mick inhaled deeply. "Yeah…it seems he was hurt, it doesn't look like he turned him on purpose and then left." He shook his head. "But we're still not sure if this is the guy…I'd feel better if we found the sire first."

"Ok, do you have any idea where he might be?"

"No, but I know who might." Mick

"Who?"

"Ok, I'm gonna talk to The Cleaner, see if she knows anything."

"Um…sure." Beth, shrugged. Who the heck was _The Cleaner_.

"I want you to stay with me; I don't want you wandering off on your own when we find her." Beth rolled her eyes, but didn't argue. She knew what was stupid, and what was just plain insane. Mick pulled out his phone. "I'm gonna have to find out where she is before we head out."

"Ok."

"Hey, Josef…yeah, look, just wondering, do you know where The Cleaner might be?…No I don't…it's for a case…yeah, that one I called you about earlier…I think she might be able to help me find the sire…k, thanks." He hung up.

"Ok, she's near 5th Ave last Josef heard, so let's head over there, it's on the way to Pollock's house."

"Ok, lead the way…and I'm not sitting in my car when we get there."

Mick frowned. "Beth, she's called The Cleaner for a reason, she cleans up after vampires who…aren't the most careful with their food."

Beth looked at him. "Mick, I'm a crime scene reporter, I've seen things at least similar to what she'll be cleaning up when we get there."

Mick sighed, but didn't argue again. "Ok, let's go then."

* * *

Well, tell me what you think, and thinks for reading, I should have an update ready in about two weeks, next week is my last week of school and then exams start, so I'll try to get one in next week, but I probable won't have a chance.

PP


	30. Chapter 30

Ok guys, after this I'm on vacation for 2 weeks, and then I get back for about a week and leave again, so there probably won't be any updates for at least a month, stick with me guys, I will continue, it's just taking a while.

* * *

Chapter 30

Beth pulled up along side Mick as he parked several blocks down from 5th Ave. She got out, and immediately Mick was next to her.

"You can come if you want, but stay close." Beth didn't argue, she knew it was hard enough to let her walk around near vampires he didn't know that well as it was, there was no need to press her luck.

Beth left Mick's hand on her back as he walked forward. A woman in black leather stood surveying everything that was going on. She turned as Mick walked up, and gave a slightly smile.

Beth looked at her, she wasn't what she had expected, her hair; which looked like it was a dark brownish color; was at least waist length, and part of it was up in a small bun.

"Mick St. John, don't tell me you need a clean up."

Mick gave a slight smile. "No." He looked around. "What happened here?"

The Cleaner looked over at two men, obviously vampires from the blood staining their hands and mouth. "Mr. Sloppy and Mr. Stupid over there got a little carried away, off their midnight snack."

"These two."

"Accidents happen, everyone feels bad, but at least they called for clean up." Mick didn't say anything, just looked at her for several seconds. She sighed. "Yes?" She said with a slight smirk.

Mick grinned. "Let's take a walk." He jerked his head towards an ally a few yards away. The Cleaner followed them.

"Ok, before we get to whatever it is you want, will you please make the introductions." She looked at Beth.

"Oh, yeah, I didn't want to bring attention to her with them around."

"Understandable."

"Beth, Erika Fantom; Erika, Beth Turner."

Erika nodded at Beth, who did the same. "I must say, I never imagined I'd see Mick walking around with a human, much less bring one here."

"I made him bring me."

Erika nodded, smirking again. "I don't doubt it." She inhaled, and her eyes widened. "You know Natasha."

Beth smiled. "Yes."

Erika's eyes danced with mirth. "The three of us shall have to get together sometime."

Mick groaned. "Just what I need."

She turned back to Mick. 'So what do you need?"

"Has there been anything unusual about your recent calls?"

"We've been a little busier than usual, couple of co-eds on the west side last week, the week before that, gang banger in Torrance."

"What about downtown, 1st and Main."

She stopped. "Oh yeah, last night. That was a false alarm."

"What do you mean 'false alarm'?"

"Vampire called about an accidental kill, I hauled my guys all the way from the west side, and when we got there, no vampire no kill, I didn't even get out of the car."

"So'd you ah…get the name of the vamp who called it in?"

Come on Mick." Erika smirked. "You know how it is, all calls are confidential, it's why the system works."

"Really, cause uh…they left this behind." Mick held up the book. She looked at it, then back up at him, obviously waiting. "I'm gonna find him eventually." Mick sighed when she didn't say anything. "The reason there was no body there is because it got up and walked away."

She looked skeptical. "A turning?"

"Gone rogue, if I don't find this guy there's gonna be a lot more cleaning up to do with no one to pick up the tab." She sighed considering for several seconds, then pulled out a business card.

"The vampire who called for clean up, his name's Gerald Stofsky." She held it out and Mick went to grab it, but she pulled it back. "You find this sire…call me?" She turned to Beth, and held out a card to her. "I'll be in touch, tell Natasha I say hello."

Beth nodded, taking the card. "I will."

Mick went to place his hand at her back again, but Beth took his hand instead. Mick sighed, but didn't fuss.

When they reached the cars, Mick opened Beth's door for her, but Beth didn't move to get inside. "Ok, I'm getting fed up with this two car deal; can you just get Josef to tow mine again?"

Mick smirked. "Ok, ok, fine." He walked to his car, opened passenger door. "Get in." Beth grinned, and leapt in quickly. Mick shook his head at her antics.

Once they pulled away, Mick seemed to relax a bit.

"Ok, I'll find out where this Gerald person is, while you call Josef and have him get my car, k?'

"Fine with me."

Beth grabbed her phone, and typed Gerald Stofsky into the search engine.

"Ok, there's two hits, one is for a 5 year old kid, and his last name is Stolfsky, so I doubt he's the one, and the other is a man who works at the 'Jet Propulsion Lab' in Pasadena."

"I'm gonna lean toward the second one." Mick said wryly.

Beth chuckled. "So we're thinking he's a vampire, _and_ a rocket scientist?"

"Guess so." Mick shook his head. "Doesn't seem quite fair now does it."

Beth shrugged. "Whenever I think of rocket scientists, I think of the geeky nerds in high school who never talked to anyone." She shook her head. 'Nah, I think I'll stick with the strong and silent type."

Mick snorted. "So what was I in high school?"

Beth looked at him, biting her lip. "Hm…Well…you probably weren't a geek, you're too broad-shouldered for that…nerd…possible, you're definitely smart enough…but again, you're shoulders make me think it's not that. Ok, um…I'm gonna say you were big on the animals and plants-"

"Why do you say that?"

Beth looked at him, her expression bland. "You have Midnight, duh, only someone who loved animals as a human would fight to keep an animal and get them to trust you like that. Now will you be quiet until I'm done?" Mick nodded. "Good. Ok where was I, oh yeah big on plants and animals…you seem pretty good at lying…when you really need to, not when you want to though…so I'd assume you were in drama…if they had that back then, and you might have been in a few sports." She folded her arms in front of her, and leaned back against the seat. "So…how'd I do?"

"Horrible, dreadfully horrible." He kept his face still for several seconds, then laughed at the look on Beth's face.

Beth's mouth dropped open. "Hey! That's not fair!" She hit him on the back of the head, hard. "That's just wrong!"

"I'm sorry, I had to, it was to perfect." Mick ducked as she tried to hit him again, but that only made her other hand that had gone to punch his arm, hit him in the face instead.

"Oh! I'm sorry." Beth put her hand over her mouth, biting her lip to try to keep quiet, but seeing the stunned, almost surprised look on Mick's face, she couldn't keep a strait face for long. She burst out laughing, and after several seconds he joined in. "What…what are we laughing for?" She gasped out a minute later.

"I think it was my expression after you punched me in the face."

"Hey, you're the one who ducked, that was aiming for your arm, so it's your own fault." She grinned. "So really, how did I do?"

"Ok, for a few years I was the nerdy kid in the classroom. Went home for summer break after freshmen year, I grew about a foot, and my shoulders, well…" He shrugged. "When I went back to school the next fall, people didn't even recognize me." He shook his head. "They thought I was a junior or senior who had moved. The look on some of their faces when they found out who I was, it was priceless."

Beth grinned. "Ok, what about the rest?"

"You were right, I was big on the plants and animals, still am, but can't really make a living off them. I do own a greenhouse downtown, and Josef lets me _play_ in his." He rolled his eyes. "If you want to get Josef off your back and make him stop following you, find a greenhouse and start playing in the dirt. He always leaves after about ten minutes…unless it's really important, and then he'll stay for about fifteen."

Beth grinned, her eyes sparkling. "I will keep that in mind if he ever starts getting on my nerves. Ok, next."

"Ok, they lying part, you're right when it comes to vampires and our safety, I can lie very easily. If it's for my job, not as easy, but I can do it without too much trouble. If it's just for fun like telling you, you'd gotten it all wrong…yeah, that's about how long I can last without giving it away, on a good day, bad days I can't even get the lie out before I'm cracking up."

Beth grinned. "So what about drama?"

Mick shook his head. "Never had it, so don't know if I'd have joined or not. And the sports…I didn't join sports, I was in Tae Kwan Do for about fourteen years, and tried a bit of Martial Arts, but that one didn't suit me, was only in it for about three years."

Beth blinked. "Cool."

Mick grinned. "Yeah, it has certainly helped when I'm trying to take down vampires centuries older than me, gives me an edge they don't expect, and by the time they find out about it, they're either staked or their head is gone." He shrugged, then seemed to realize who he was talking to, because he suddenly went still. "We're almost there."

Beth sighed; Mick was back to his normal brooding self.

***

They pulled into the Lab, and Mick opened Beth's door for her again. Beth followed as Mick seemed to be following a trail rather than actual directions. Finally they reached a hallway.

"Beth, just trust me with this, k…?"

Beth nodded. "Ok." Before she could blink, she was in Mick's arms, back down, and looking at a man sharpening a pencil at a deck covered in papers, note, books, and just about anything else you could think of.

He looked up, saw them, and froze.

"Hi." Mick was curt.

The man, Gerald, Beth assumed, looked rather uncomfortable. "Hi."

Mick held out the book. "Yours?"

"My notes! Oh thank you, I thought I'd lost them." He began looking through the book excitedly.

"Corner of 1st and Main last night, right?"

"Maybe…I go by there every night."

"There you go." Beth could tell Mick was being slightly, just slightly sarcastic. "Were you alone?"

"Yes you know I…I think I've finally…gotten used to…my solitary existence. Other vampires seem to avoid me and my human colleagues are…well, you know how that is." He laughed uneasily.

"Right."

Beth spoke up. "Where were you coming from?"

Gerald looked surprised to see her talk, or perhaps to just plain see her, but seemed delighted at the question anyway. "The Empress Pavilion. I love their Barbeque Pork Buns." He got lost in a slightly dreamy expression.

Mick raised an eyebrow. "But we don't eat."

"I know, but I sure used to love those buns."

"Anyway." Mick seemed to want to get back on track, and Beth didn't blame him. "Last night, _after_ your pork bun, what did you eat, and by what I mean who."

Gerald looked decidedly uneasy. "What?"

"I found your pad in a pool of blood…since you're a vampire; I figured it's not a coincidence."

He held up his hands, obviously afraid of what would happen should he not tell Mick what he wanted. "That wasn't my fault. As I said I was just walking along, when suddenly out of absolutely no where, this car mows me over."

Beth frowned, that wouldn't make sense, why would a doctor run someone over? "So then you attacked the driver?"

"Oh no, no I was in no condition…fortunately, a good samaritan came by."

Mick looked rather repulsed…exactly how Beth felt. "So you fed on him?

"Drained him I'm afraid. It was just an accident. I don't normally feed on humans, I was just desperate and I…" Mick continued to stare at him. "Look, I called the cleaner soon as I got home, she should have disposed of the body so…"

Beth stared at him incredulously. "Did you even check?! Did you check to see if he was dead before you just left him there?"

"Yes, of course I checked, I me-I mean he wasn't moving…why wouldn't he be dead, right?"

Mick closed his eyes, fighting to control his temper. "You screwed up, some of your blood got into his system. You didn't kill him; you turned him, and left him there by himself, not knowing what he was, and not knowing what to do; now he's out there _killing _people."

"Oh my, oh dear."

"What do you remember about him?'

"Nothing much I…eh…it all happened so fast…it was dark…ah yes! He said something about being…a um…a…a doctor…no…yes a doctor, a doctor."

"A doctor?"

"Yes."

Beth frowned. "Are you sure?" That's all he remembered, surely a rocket scientist would remember more than that, but maybe not.

He nodded.

Beth turned to Mick. "Ok, you find out where he lives, I'll go see what else I can find."

Mick looked at her curiously, but nodded. "Ok."

They hurried back down the hall. As the car pulled away, Mick turned to Beth. "What was that about?"

Beth frowned. "I don't trust him, so it's better to make him think we'll be alone. He'll be less wary if he decides to try anything."

"Good idea, but why don't you trust him?"

Beth stared at him. "You just got hit by a car, someone stops to help, and you drain them. Don't you think you'd at least notice something about the car? Especially if you _worked_ with numbers every day?"

"Good point."

"I thought so. So are we heading to his house now?"

"Yes."

"Ok."

* * *

Ok guys, tell me what you think, I will be able to get to a computer in a few days so I'll check to see what you think.

PP


	31. Chapter 31

A/N-Ok...hm...well there goes that good updating pattern down the drain...yeah...sorry guys, look if I go that long again w/out updating or letting you guys know what's going on just send me a PM asking me what the heck I am doing and to get my butt over to and update again, lol, hopefully that will get me back on track.

But yeah, anyway, hope you guys like the update, tell me what you think.

PP

* * *

Chapter 31

They were just pulling away, when Beth's phone rang. She answered without looking. "Hello?"

It was Mo. "Beth, you need to get down to Privvet Ave, I think there's been another murder, one linked to the convenience store clerk."

"Ok, have Jon meet me down there in ten minutes."

"Will do."

Beth turned to Mick. "You caught that right?"

Mick nodded. "Yeah."

"Can you drop me off there before you head to Pollock's?"

"Sure."

"Thanks, I'll have Jon or someone drop me off if you haven't called by the time I'm done."

"Sounds good."

"Thanks."

***

"Thanks again, I'll see you in a few minutes." Beth hurried over to Jon and Mick pulled away.

"Hey, look let's do this fast, Mick and have got a lead on the vampire responsible for this."

Jon looked up, his face tense. "Do you know where he is?"

"No, we were headed to his house when I get the call to come here."

"Beth, are you crazy? What are you doing here?!"

"I know, I didn't want to, but Mick is going on his own, I'm gonna meet him there once this is over."

"Ok…I still don't like the thought of a vampire causing this…it's unnerving."

"I know, look can we get this done, the sooner we do, the sooner you can upload it, and I can get back to Mick."

"Ok, let's do this." He grabbed his camera and they headed over to the scene.

"Again, the details are sketchy, but the Police seem to be treating this as a homicide. As of now, no one knows who is responsible for the bloody crimes of the past few days. This is Beth Turner for Buzzwire."

"And we're out, nice job."

"Ok, I'm gonna go talk to Carl, make sure this is the same guy."

"Ok."

Beth walked over to the tape as Carl was coming out. He called to someone a few yards away. "I'm gonna head out." He walked over. "What happened to holding the story?"

"I did hold it; this is a different crime scene. Or are you trying to tell me you think the two are related." She bit her lip. "Carl…" He looked down at her. "Was his blood missing too?"

"Beth, don't you go giving this guy a nick-name."

"Carl please, just tell me, off the record, but I need to know!" Beth knew her voice was turning panicky, but right now she didn't care, she had to find out if this was him or not.

"Beth…" Carl looked concerned. "Are you ok?"

"Just tell me."

He sighed. "Yes, yes it was." Her face must have gone white or something, because he frowned. 'Beth…do you know something about this?"

"No, not…" Beth bit her lip. She and Carl had grown apart when he was recruited by the police force, but they had been close as teens. He knew of her fascination with self defense, and also about her kidnapping. They also had a deal that if one asked a question the other didn't feel comfortable answering, and would rather lie than tell the truth, they other would drop it. Beth had only asked a few of those questions, but Carl had received the 'don't ask and I won't lie' look enough times to recognize it. "Don't make me lie to you."

Carl looked indecisive. "Are you in danger?" She shook her head. "Ok, then I won't ask, just be careful, don't get yourself into anything to deep."

'I'll try not to."

"And call me if you need help."

"I will." Beth hesitated. "Um…can you give me a ride?"

Carl frowned. "Where's your car?"

"I got dropped off."

Carl sighed. "Sure, where do you need to go?"

"2810 Hillside Drive."

"Ok, hop in." He unlocked his car, and climbed in the other side.

"Thanks."

***

The ride there was tense, awkward. Beth unsure if she'd said to much, Carl not seeming to know what to say.

"So…you uh…stopping by to see a friend?"

"Hm?"

"The place I'm dropping you off at, a friend live there?"

"Oh, no."

Carl looked confused. "Then why-" Beth stared at him for several seconds, and didn't look away when he looked up. "Ah, another one of those 'don't ask and I won't lie' deals?" Beth nodded. "Ok, I never did like those, but nothing is better than a lie."

"I never liked lying to you…"

"I never liked making you lie to me." She looked down at her hands. "What happened Carl? We used to be so close…best friends really…what happened?"

Carl sighed. "We both grew up…or at least I did." He looked at her, grinning. "You still obsessed with vampires?"

Beth stared at him. "How'd you know about that?"

Carl just looked at her for a second. "Beth, anyone one who was in your room for more than five seconds knew you obsessed over them, I couldn't even see the wall paper. And your floor…don't even get me started." He shook his head. "Truthfully, if I didn't know better, these murders might make me think vampires actually did exist."

Beth didn't say anything for several minutes, then spoke up. "You still married to your cars?"

Carl grinned. "What can I say; cars are my weakness, especially nice ones."

Beth grinned. "Then you'll love the car we're gonna see when we get there."

"Oh?"

She nodded. "Umhmm."

"I can't wait."

***

They pulled up next to Mick's car, and Carl's jaw dropped, stared. "Wow, now _that_ is a nice looking Benz. Whose is it?"

"That would be Mick St. John's car."

"The PI?"

"Yup." She got out, and shut the door, leaning through the window.

"Dang that's nice, where did he get that sweet of a ride?"

Beth shook her head, Carl definitely hadn't changed much when it came to cars. "Thanks for the ride, I really-" She stopped. Gerald was walking out of the house…alone. "Damn it!" She whispered, but apparently not quietly enough, because he looked up, hesitated, then started heading over. "Damn it, Carl go!"

"What? Beth what's going on?"

"Just get out of here!"

Carl got out of his car. "I'm not leaving you here when something is obviously wrong." He pulled out his gun.

"Carl, please, just get back in your car and go."

Gerald was close enough to _hear_ them. "Hey, fancy meeting you again." He walked slowly. "I just saw your friend."

Beth glared at him, her eyes the temperature of dry ice. "What did you do to him?!" Her voice was frigid.

"No lasting harm, he'll be fine when he gets it out."

"Damn it Stofsky, if you've hurt him I swear I'll kill you!"

This time he smiled a sickly, sneering smile. "And just how will you do that I wonder?"

"Hey, hey, the two of you, cool it. Beth you aren't killing anyone, and whoever you are, just get out, before you get in trouble."

Gerald turned to Carl, a disdainful look on his face. "You aren't in charge of me, so why don't you take the girl's advice and get out."

"No, not until I'm sure she's safe."

Stofsky's smile widened. "Shows how much you know doesn't it." He turned to Beth. "I'm afraid you will have to come with me, I can't have you letting your friend go before I've finished."

Beth fought to keep calm. "I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Oh really…I very much doubt you can stop me…" In a flash he'd knocked Carl into the air, and grabbed Beth by the hair, twisting her around so he was behind her. "See, you're helpless without your vampire friend."

Beth reached a hand up to grip her hair, which felt like it was being pulled out. Her other hand, she gripped a stake with. "Oh really?"

"Yes, you're a puny human, and don't worry, the stake won't hurt your friend, it'll just-" He was cut off by Beth jabbing the stake up through his ribs.

"Paralyze him? Yeah, I know." Beth pulled away, letting him drop to the ground. She ran to Carl. He looked to be fine, only unconscious, but she couldn't be sure. She gripped him by the arms, and pulled him off the street, onto the sidewalk, then ran into the house. The moment she entered she could smell blood. She passed a room, where a woman lay in a pool of blood, but she didn't stop, she had to find Mick.

"Mick! Mick where are you!" She heard a soft grunt from another room, and ran in. Mick was on the floor, a stake driven through him. "Mick!" She ran forward, and pulled it out. "Mick, are you ok?"

He groaned. "I'm fine, you?"

"Fine, Carl's out cold, and Stofsky's paralyzed though. We need to get make sure Carl's ok and get Stofsky somewhere."

"Ok, and after that we need to get to Sacred Angel's Hospital. Pollock works there, we need to get there a soon as possible."

Beth stared at him. "You think he'd feed on his own patience."

"Newly turned vampires need blood, where better to get it than a hospital?" He groaned, standing up. "Come on, let's go see about-" He froze.

"What is it?"

"Carl…he's awake."

Beth swore, and ran out. "Carl!"

Carl looked up from where he was kneeling next to Stofsky, who was lying face up. "Beth…Beth what's going on?"

Beth cringed. "Mick…he knows."

"I know."

Beth turned to him. "Can I talk to him?"

Mick tuned to her. "I'm not Josef, Beth." He gave a slight smile. "As long as he doesn't go screaming to the press, I won't go near him unless he wants it." Mick considered for a moment. "Though I suppose it wouldn't hurt if he went screaming to you."

Beth smiled weakly. "I know, I just don't want him doing anything rash."

"Go talk to him, I'll stay-"

"Beth! What is going on?!" Beth turned; Carl had his gun in his hand and was pointing it at Mick.

"Carl put that gun down now!" Instinctively, even though she knew the bullet couldn't hurt Mick, she still wanted to protect him if she could.

"Beth, get out of the way!"

"I will, after you put that down!" Carl slowly lowered the gun. Beth walked forward, slowly reached for it, and took it away. She slid it away. "Ok, are you hurt?"

"My head is pounding if that's what you're talking about, and my back doesn't feel the greatest."

"Mick, can you tell if anything else is wrong please?"

"Sure, one minute." He was silent for a moment. "He should be fine, he scraped his back when he landed, and hit his head a second later. He slid more that hit, and probably prevented a lot. He'll probably have a lot of scrapes, and brush-burns on his back though, and he should get his head looked at, at a hospital, as soon as he can." He paused. "That's all I can tell from here, I'd have to get closer and actually look at him to find anything else, and I'm not coming any close unless he wants me to, so you'll have to be good with that until you can get him to a hospital."

"You can come over, if Beth trusts you I see no reason not to, she has a remarkable ability to judge characters." Mick looked surprised, but came over without arguing. He knelt down next to Stofsky.

"You underestimated her." He smirked slightly. "Not a good idea." He turned to Beth. "Open the back door for me, I could do it on my own, but the stake is bad enough if anyone is looking out their windows." He looked around. "Thankfully we're under a tree, so not much can be seen."

"You're telling me." Carl muttered from where he was sitting. "I can hardly see a thing; don't know how you find anything like this Beth." He rolled his eyes. "Then again, you always did prefer the dark…never did understand that seeing as you were kidnapped at night…makes even less sense now, but…" He shook his head. "How many carrots do you eat?" Beth smirked. "…You're smirking at me aren't you?"

"Thought you couldn't see." She quipped.

"I can't, I just know you well enough, and you do realize you gave yourself away."

"Yes, I know." She turned to Mick. "Should we head out?"

"Yeah, you drive Carl, I'll meet you there."

"Where are you going?"

"The Cleaner wants to talk to this guy, remember." He jerked his head towards Stofsky, who was still lying staked in his back seat.

"Oh, right, ok, see you there."

"Yup." Mick took off, leaving Beth and Carl to figure out what to do next.

* * *

A/N-Again, sorry for the delay. *hides*

PP


	32. Chapter 32

Hello, ok, new chapter, hope you guys like it. About 1 page for the next chapter already typed, so hopefully it will be done before too long. And I'm not completely pleased with this chapter, so if you guys have any ideas on how to make it better, please let me know.

PP

* * *

Chapter 32

Beth looked up, biting her lip. "Look, I know you have questions, can we head over to the hospital, and then I'll start explaining?"

"Yeah, sure." Carl went to get in, but Beth grabbed his arm.

"I don't want you driving, you just hit your head pretty hard."

Carl sighed. "All right, fine, but this is the only time I'm letting you drive." He shook his head. "It's not just the head though…it's all this…information that just got shoved at me all at once."

Beth smiled understandingly. "I know; it's a lot to…get." She got in, and started the car, waited to make sure Carl was set, then drove off in the direction of the hospital.

The first few seconds were silent; then Carl broke the silence. "So…how long have you…know about…all this." He gestured around as if to include everything in his question.

"About what specifically?"

"…Vampires."

Beth bit her lip. "…Since my kidnapping."

Carl jumped. "What…since you were…how old were you? Four? Five?"

"Five and a half."

Cark sword vividly. "That's why you were obsessed with vampires."

Beth nodded. "And self-defense. I was determined I would never be so helpless again."

"Can't say as I blame you. So…how, how does you being kidnapped lead to vampires?"

Beth frowned. "I…I can't…tell you…everything, because it's not my story to tell…but the woman who kidnapped me is…was a vampire."

"You say was, as in…isn't a vampire any more…like there's a cure?"

Beth shook her head. "No, there isn't a cure, at least not a permanent one, and I'm not even sure about that, I've just heard rumors, but no…she just…she's dead."

Carl began to nod, but stopped halfway through, and shook his head as though to clear it. "So…what can you tell me?"

"That's it, she was a vampire, and so was the man who saved me, they fought, he won, he killed her."

Carl stared. "In front of you?"

Beth looked at him. "What was he supposed to do? Cuff her to the chair?"

"Um…yeah, I guess so."

"Even if the chair was bolted to the floor, she'd have pulled loose."

"Wait, wait, wait, they're that strong?"

"Yeah, that's easy for them. Trust me on this, if you ever decide you want to go and get a vampire ticked off, be sure of at least two of the following things; you have a stake, a silver knife, you know and trust the vampire, or have another vampire you trust with you."

"Eish, that's…that's a pretty…um…"

"Yeah, I get it Carl, trust me." She grinned at him.

"So…how long have you known St John was a vampire?"

"Um…remember that case, at the fountain, turned out to be the TA killing the girls?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Mick was looking into the case because it 'looked' like a vampire had bitten her right?"

Carl nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, we ended up doing some breaking and entering at the same time, and worked together for the rest of the case."

"Ah, so you knew since then."

"Yeah, he kept dodging the sunlight, and I never saw him eat, I confronted him after the whole Lee Jay thing…look, it you want a full run down, you'll have to talk to me and Mick together."

"Ok, sure, fine." He hesitated. "Is…is there anyone else I know of that's…you know…"

Beth smirked. "Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you…well…unless I had to…it's their business, they will probably be informed that you know, and some of them might come forward, but others…well, you probably won't even notice anything different about them."

Carl frowned. "So…so there…there may be some people who…who I work with what are…" He gave a gesture.

Beth smirked at the slightly confused, half dazed, and partly anxious look on his face. "Possibly."

Carl groaned. "Ok, look, can you drop me off at my house; I think I need to get some rest."

"Yeah, sure, just let me call Mick at let him know he'll have to pick me up." She went to pull out her phone, but Carl stopped her.

"Oh, I moved, I'm only like a block from the hospital, you could walk there in five minutes."

"Ok, cool. Which street?"

"Clarence Ave, it's the second house on the left, the grey one. If you turn right here I can direct you there."

"Ok." She turned, and headed in the direction he instructed.

As she pulled in the driveway, she turned to Carl. "Call me tomorrow morning, ok."

"Yeah, I will."

"Thank you, if you have any questions, please just ask."

"K." He hesitated. "It's good talking to you Beth, I've missed that."

Beth smirked as she got out of the car. "You're the one who got all upset when I went into reporting, so it's your own fault."

Carl gave a rueful smile. "Yeah, I guess I was just afraid you'd end up twisted like some reporters have ended up." He shook his head. "I should've known you'd be too stubborn for that."

"Yes, you should have."

"All right, well, I'll talk to you sometime soon." Headed up the walkway, as he reached the door he turned around. "This….this isn't a dream is it?"

"If it is it is very strange because we're both having the same one." He nodded, and disappeared into the house.

Beth headed off towards the hospital, keeping one hand on her phone, another on her knife. She wasn't sure if Pollock had reached the hospital yet or not, and she wasn't taking any chances that he might still be wandering the streets.

Five minutes later she was walking through the entrance doors of the Hospital. She looked around, Mick wasn't there yet. She walked over to a seat and sat down, her back to the wall, facing the door.

He _looked_ normal…to most people, but the way he walked in; slowly, almost as if stalking something caught Beth's attention. His bleach white Doctor's coat looked out of place among the humans walking in. Beth sat up straighter, holding her knife tightly in her hand. Fledglings weren't as strong as normal vampires, but they were far more wild and reckless; prone to acting violently without any type of provoking or warning.

He walked in, staring around at everyone, then left, going further into the hospital. Beth stood up and followed him a short distance. She pulled out her phone and pressed the speed dial to call Mick.

"What is it?"

"He's here."

"Already?! Damn it, hold on I'll be there soon. Stay out of his way, and don't bring attention to yourself."

"I'm not just gonna stand here and let him kill people, if I can stop him or save someone's life I'm going to."

"Beth, I'll be there as soon as I can, don't go near him."

Beth frowned. "You know, you and your 'stay in the car' business aren't going to work much longer, and it won't work when there's no car for me to stay in."

"Beth, Beth wait-" She didn't wait to hear the rest and hung up. She knew Mick was just taking precautions, but she was getting tired of him treating her like a child who would listen every time he told her to do something.

Pollock was almost all the way down the hall, so she hurried forward, keeping far back, but not letting him out of her sight for long.

At one point he turned and looked straight at her, and she could barely keep her heart from leaping out of control. He rounded the next corner and Beth hesitated. If he knew she was following him, he'd be waiting just on the other side…but if he didn't know he'd keep going and she'd loose sight of him. Damn it, she should've waited for Mick.

Speaking of…her phone rang. She looked at it, and sure enough, it was Mick. She sighed, and answered. "Yes?"

"Beth don't do that."

"Do what?" She made sure to sound uninterested,

"You know what I'm talking about, now where are you?" Beth looked behind her, and spotted a sign.

"I'm in Corridor C, Floor 1."

"K, I'll be there in a minute."

Beth sighed and hung up again. She continued down the hall, keeping an eye out for Pollock. She had almost reached the corner when she stopped, the hair on the back of her neck standing on end. She wasn't entirely certain, but she would bet a month's paycheck that Pollock was standing just around the bend.

"Beth!" She turned as Mick came running up to her. "Beth don't do that, fledglings are not-" Beth covered his mouth with her hand. She gestured to the bend just five meters away. Beth looked down at the look Mick gave her, she knew she'd been foolish to risk getting this close, but they'd have to deal with that later, for now, Pollock needed to be dealt with.

"Where's Gerald?" Beth hadn't seen him, or Erika.

"The Cleaner took him; he has to pay for what he did."

Beth nodded, then froze, the back of her neck wasn't prickling anymore…She looked up at Mick. "Did he move?"

Mick nodded. "He's walking down the hallway now." He looked down at her. "And I still don't know how you do that."

"What?"

"Sense when there's one of us near you."

Beth shook her head. "It doesn't always work; I never got nervous around Jon or you."

"No, but it's still useful." Mick started down the hallway. "Come on, we gotta keep up with him and get him away from cameras so I can deal with him."

Beth nodded half jogging to keep up with Mick's long stride. "K."

Mick took off running without tapping into his vampire speed; even so Beth had a hard time keeping up with his long strides. Mick suddenly stopped listening closely to something Beth couldn't hear.

"What is it?" Beth asked, feeling slightly out of breath.

"He's talking to some of the other doctors up ahead..." Beth listened carefully, but couldn't hear anything.

"How far ahead are they?"

"Far enough that Pollock isn't sensing that I'm here." Beth nodded. "He's moving, come on."

Mick took off, hurrying down the hallway. Around a corner they spotted a desk with several doctors standing by it, Mick called out to one of them. "Hey, do you know where Dr. Pollock is?"

"Yeah, seventh floor." Mick took off with Beth on his tail. "Hey….hey! You can't go up there!" They ignored him and kept running.

Beth stopped, and gasped out. "Mick!" He stopped and looked at her. "Go, don't wait for me." As much as she hated to be left behind she knew any moment saved might mean another person's life. Mick nodded, and was a blur, then gone. Beth sighed heavily and hurried towards the stairs. The elevator would be faster, but she didn't want to take the risk Pollock might be waiting at the doors when she got off, at least with the stairway she'd have the illusion of being able to escape.

She hurried upward, keeping an ear tuned for sounds of a fight. Beth reached the seventh floor and stopped, catching her breath. She listened; there wasn't a sound to be heard. She opened the door, and looked around, no one was in sight.

Keeping the hand in her purse clenched tightly around the silver stake, she hurried out, anxious for a sign that someone was up here. The back of her neck prickled, she turned around, casually, as though looking for someone.

Pollock stood only ten feet from her. Though his eyes hadn't yet bled silver, they were extremely pale.

"He-hello."

"Hello, are you looking for someone?"

Beth nodded. "Yes, I'm looking for Dr. Pollock; do you know where I could find him?"

"Yes…"

"Would you mind showing me?"

"Of course, right this way." He gestured down a darkened side hallway.

Beth smiled and fought to keep her heartbeat calm. "Thank you so much, I really appreciate the help."

"It's not a problem Miss…"

Beth though quickly. "Er...Mrs. actually, Mrs. St. John." Hopefully Mick would hear and come quickly enough that she wasn't left alone with Pollock for too long. She was confident of her abilities to deal with older vampires….but fledglings were in a class all on their own and she'd never dealt with one before now.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize." He looked pointedly at her left hand that was in her bag.

Pretending not to notice, Beth shrugged. "It's no problem there wasn't any way you could have known." She walked forward down the hallway he had pointed to. "How far down is it?"

"Follow me, I'll show you." He set off down the hall.

Beth nodded, and walked after him. She looked back, Mick was no where to be seen, but that didn't mean anything. As she followed Pollock further into the darkened corridor, all she could think was Mick couldn't be too far behind. He wouldn't let Pollock hurt her.

* * *

Thanks for reading.

PP


	33. Chapter 33

A/N-Ok, here it is, and next chapter is being written. Not very happy with how the scene went with Mick, Beth, and Pollock, but hopefully you guys won't find it too bad.

PP

* * *

Chapter 33

"Thank you for helping me, I really-" Beth was cut off as all the air was forced out of her lungs as Pollock threw her against the wall.

Beth fought to keep her heartbeat slow, as he leaned towards her, lifting her up and trapping her against the wall with his arms on either side of her. "Don't worry, I'm a Doctor."

Beth would have laughed if she had any air left in her lungs to do so. Was he serious…that was just too much. She gasped air in, and said. "No you're not; you're a vampire, and a murderer. A Doctor wouldn't kill people!" She glared at him, fighting to keep calm.

He jumped back in surprise and stared at her from against the other wall, his eyes pale and wild. "How do you know…" He slowly stalked towards her. "You-you're just a human-just food-prey, how-"

"Beth!" Both of them looked up to see Mick at the end of the hall. Mick lunged at Pollock, kicking him down the hallway.

Pollock got up, and sniffed slowly, then looked at Mick, his eyes gleaming. "I can smell you….you're like me." He smiled, showing his fangs.

"He is _nothing_ like you." Beth sank to the floor, still clutching the stake inside her bag.

"Aww come on, I'll share, there's enough of her for both of us, and besides, they restock every day." He grinned as though having shared a well kept secret.

Mick took in a breath, obviously trying to control himself. "You need to come with me right now."

Slowly Beth stood up, her legs shaky, but on her feet just the same. Pollock's gaze flashed to her, he bared his fangs in a low snarl.

She had just gotten somewhat stable, when Pollock lunged for her. He barely got two steps in when Mick grabbed him and threw him down the hallway. Pollock crouched, snarling. He hesitated, looking at Beth longingly, then noticed Mick snarling at him, and took off further down the hallway. Mick went after him. Beth ran after them, not nearly able to keep up, but not at all willing to be left behind.

She reached a door that led outside and saw blurs out the window, and hurried forward. Mick was against the fence, Pollock's hand at his throat. Both hissed as the door opened. Pollock turned to look at her, and Mick grabbed the hand at his throat and threw him down the stairway.

"Mick!" He looked at her and she threw the stake to him. He caught it and jumped down the flight of steps. He went to stake Pollock, but Pollock grabbed his arm, keeling if from penetrating his chest.

"Wait! I understand now. I'll stop killing. I'll go back to my old life."

Beth closed her eyes, shaking her head, knowing that it wasn't possible even if he wasn't just trying to talk his way out. His life was gone the moment he had sank his fangs into his first victim. Mick wouldn't allow a murderer to remain unpunished.

She looked up as Mick repeated her thoughts. "You can't…you destroyed it." He drove the stake up through his heart.

He looked back up at Beth, dropped Pollock to the floor and jumped up the stairs to her. "Are you ok?" He pulled her into a tight hug.

Beth nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, just a little shaken." She looked down at Pollock who was frozen in place. "What are we going to do with him?"

Mick sighed. "Burn him. That'll be the easiest way to get rid of him."

Beth nodded. "What are we going to do about everyone else who will wonder what happened to him?"

"I'll have Josef deal with that part, he's better at leaving paper trails for people to find than I am." He laughed. "Of course, he's got over three centuries on me, so that tends to help."

"Wow, I mean I knew he and Tasha were old, but I didn't know they were 'that' old."

"Yeah, with how Josef acts it's hard to imagine him being a day over thirty, let alone centuries old."

Beth smiled. "Yeah, exactly, with Tasha it's more believable."

"She's always been the…more mature one of the two; probably from trying to keep Josef out of trouble, though he always manages to find his way into some somehow."

She laughed. "Well, you get him somewhere to burn, and I'll call Tasha."

Mick pulled back to look at her. "Why are you calling her? Josef is the one who deals with the paperwork."

Beth nodded. "Yeah, I know, but I know her a lot better; and she won't nag me about how I explain things to her like I'm sure Josef would." She raised her eyebrows.

"Ok, good point."

She pulled out her phone and waited. "Hello."

"Hey, Tasha, odd request."

"Ok...I'll keep that in mind, though you should remember what I am when you say things like that."

"Yeah, true, look can you ask your brother to make a paper trail for a 'Jeffery Pollock' he's a Doctor at Sacred Angel's Hospital."

"Yeah, sure, what time should it start?"

"A half an hour from now."

"Ok, and what do you want to happen?"

"I want him dead."

"…May I ask why?"

"He's the rogue that's been killing people; we need a reason for him to not be around anymore."

"Ah, ok, yeah sure I can have him do that, in face I'll just skip over Josef and go strait to his tech guy." She laughed. "He'll be annoyed at that, but it'll be faster this way."

"Ok, cool, thanks Tasha."

"No problem, has Mick been behaving himself?"

Beth bit her lip as Mick looked up from where he was standing with Pollock's body and a stretcher, and gave an annoyed glare at the phone. "Natasha I don't see how that is relevant to-" Mick began, but Natasha cut him off.

"Mick stay out of conversations that do not include you and you will do much better."

"I don't see how that helps my job."

"That is not what I meant Mick and you know it."

"Oh? Since when do I know what you mean all the time?"

"Well, looks like you don't have to answer that question _Beth_, seeing as nosey here decided to answer for you."

Beth laughed. "He hasn't been too bad, a little over-protective, but over all pretty good today."

"Well that's good; all right I gotta head down to security and have Ryder start working on that paper trail of yours."

"Thanks again Tasha."

"Yup, don't forget to stop by sometime."

"I won't, bye."

"Yup."

Beth laughed and looked up at Mick, who was almost pouting. "Oh come on, quit being such a party pooper, she wasn't doing anything horrible, and I'm pretty sure she can."

Mick rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, quite easily I might add. Now are you coming with me, or are you heading back down?"

"I'm gonna head back down and by the time I get to the bottom floor, you should have had enough time to join me. We should mention that we couldn't find him."

"Yeah, ok, see you down there."

Beth walked back inside, and down the stairs. When she reached the bottom staircase, she sat down, shaking slightly. Vampires she could deal with, and possibly fledglings whose sires were with them, but she was _never_ going to deal with a feral fledgling again if she had a choice. Taking some steadying breaths Beth stood up, and finished walking down the stairs.

She opened the door and looked around. Mick wasn't anywhere to be seen yet, so she walked over to the entrance, and waited.

"Hey, Beth, how'd everything go?"

Beth jumped and turned around. Jon stood there, smirking. "Oh, good grief Jon, you scared the crap out of me!"

His smirk got even wider. "Yeah, I noticed, that never happens, you're always on high alert and even with using some vamp skills I could never sneak up on you, ever; got rather annoying to tell the truth."

Beth glared at him. "Yeah, yeah, and Mick should be down in a few minutes, we 'staked' our claim on him, so he's just finishing up. Glad the 'heat' is off us now."

Jon nodded. "Ah, that's good to hear."

"Yeah, so did you get the video uploaded?"

"Yup, I sure did, just came from there actually. That old boyfriend of yours, you know the DA, he was asking for you and I said I'd-"

Beth interrupted him with a groan. "You mean Josh, don't you?"

"Uh….yeah, I think that's his name."

"Ok, first of all, we were never dating, nor will we ever be, second, what the hell did he want?"

"Um…he said something about a girl, and agreeing to let Mick help on the case."

Beth shook her head. "He just doesn't give up. I don't want to have anything to do with him, but it seems it's necessary. I wish we could help the girl without dealing with Josh, but I don't think it would be possible."

"Um…sure, if you say so."

"Yeah…Josh is annoying to say the least."

Jon nodded. "I gathered as much."

"Beth, Jon, over here." They both turned, Mick stood off to the side.

"Hey, everything work out." Jon asked.

"Yeah, it's gone for good."

Beth sighed in relief. "Good, I don't want to him what might have happened if we hadn't-" She broke off, looking around anxiously. "Uh, guys…do you think we could go somewhere else to talk about this…preferably somewhere more private."

"Oh…yeah, come on, we can talk at my place." He looked at Jon. "That work for you?"

"Yeah, sure, I got nothing to do until Little Bethy here does; I got myself assigned to her."

Beth glared at the nickname, but didn't comment. "Ok, cool, at least you I know I can order around and not worry about offending you."

"Oh; and how do you figure that?"

Beth shrugged. "Easy, if you get too ticked, I can just have Mick deal with you."

Both of them turned to look at her. "Wait, wait, 'deal with me', why would he do that?"

"Cause I'm me, and you're you."

"So you're saying he likes you more than me."

"Basically, yeah." She shrugged, as though it wasn't a big deal.

"Well I don't believe that, I-"

"Uh…guys, I 'am' still standing here." Both Beth and Jon looked at Mick, who was standing there with a look of amusement on his face. "Why don't we head over to my place, we can continue talking there, or rather, you can continue talking, and I can just sit there being ignored." He smirked. "Sounds like so much fun."

Jon looked down at Beth with something akin to adoration on his face. She looked at him warily. "What?"

"He never asks us to come over; we always have to show up unannounced before we can get in."

"And you're point is…"

"I don't know how you managed it, but it's a good thing, I'll tell you that much."

Mick looked decidedly uncomfortable. "Ok, just for that, I'm admitting that I like Beth more than you."

Jon frowned. "Gee thanks Mick, show me up in front of a girl, some friend you are."

Beth smiled. "I have no problem with him doing that."

Jon raised an eyebrow, turning to look at her. "Don't mind what, him preferring you to me, or him showing me up."

Beth shrugged as though it didn't much concern her. "Either one, though I am definitely happy her prefers me to you, there would be some rather awkward questions if he didn't."

Jon grimaced, nodding grudgingly. "Ok, yeah, I admit you do have a point there."

"All right you two, do I have to keep the two of you apart?" Mick shook his head. "I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd think I was back home with my brother and sisters with how you two go at each other, and Tasha isn't much better."

Beth smiled up at him, eyes wide. "Aww, don't be mad at me, we're just having fun."

Mick and Jon looked at each other, exasperated. "You know, when you look at us like that there isn't much we won't give you." Jon said, shaking his head.

Beth smirked. "That's the point, and Mick, I 'really, 'really' hope you weren't serious about the whole feeling like you were back w/ your siblings, cause that would just be wrong."

"Ok, ok, I feel like I was back with my friend and his sister; that better?"

Beth nodded. "Much, thank you."

Jon spoke up. "You know, every time one of us mentions we should get going, we get distracted by something, so why don't we walk while we talk." He grabbed Beth and Mick by their arms and dragged them forward with him as he headed for the doors.

Beth pursed her lips. "I can walk on my own you know."

"Yeah, but you weren't doing it fast enough."

Mick raised his eyebrows, and stopped, pulling his arm out of Jo's grip. "Ok, me and Beth will meet you at my house in fifteen minutes, sound good?"

"Ok, sure." Jon let go of Beth's arm, and headed out the door towards his van.

Mick held open the door. "After you." He said, gesturing for her to walk through.

"Where's your car?"

"Over, here." He headed toward the left parking lot. "Do you need anything from your house before we head over?" Mick opened the passenger door.

"Nope, I'm all set." Beth got in and was tempted to slide over to the driver's side, but didn't have a key so it wouldn't have done her any good.

"Ok then, no detours to make."

"Do you think Tasha will have the paper trail finished in time?"

"Both her and Josef have done this so often she'll be done with minutes to spare."

"Ah, ok." Beth relaxed against the back of the seat. "Oh, and when we get there I'll tell you the rest of what Josh told me after you left."

Mick pulled out of the parking lot. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

A/N-Hope you liked it.

PP


	34. Chapter 34

A/N-Ok, first off. I am 'so so' sorry. I have no excuses to give you except that my muse died and left you all stranded again.

Second. Until the story is complete, or very near so, this will be the second to last update. I am sorry, but I do not want to leave you hanging again, waiting for an update that is not going to come for years. However, I will keep you posted on progress on my profile.

To everyone who has sent me a message, or left a review, I want to thank you. I was re-reading them all this week, and they were what prompted me to start writing again. Anyone who wants to scream at me, feel free, I will read it, and will understand why you have done so. Anyone who wants to check up on progress, also feel free. At this point I have 39 chapter written, I have almost finished Episode 4.

At first I wasn't going post at all, but I decided you all deserved something to let you know I was serious about completing PR. I was just going to post this chapter, but decided the ending was too harsh to leave you with. (I give you fair warning, you won't like Josh at all by the end of this chapter.) I'll post the following chapter within the next week, there are some details I need to fix, but it will be up by Friday, Dec 16th, hopefully before then.

Again, I am sorry for the long delay, understatement I know, but...yeah, nothing I can say will make it magically disappear.

So...here you go...and I'm going to go hide under a rock, don't worry, I'm taking my paper and pens with me.

PhantomPhoenix

* * *

Chapter 34

The ride to Mick's house was filled with contented silence, which in itself was astounding to Beth. Never before had she been able to just sit near someone and not have to talk, or at the very least have the silence there was be awkward. Also on her list of things to contemplate was that Mick seemed to be taking all of this rather well. She'd been expecting much more of the Mick she'd met briefly on the night he found out just about everything. He hadn't yet made an appearance again, but Beth wasn't quite ready to accept that Mick _really_ was ok with everything that was going on. It would make it less…heartbreaking if something did happen.

She sighed, shaking her head slightly, and Mick turned to look at her in slight concern. "What's wrong?"

Beth smiled slightly. "I just…I guess I'm waiting for the other foot to drop."

Mick frowned, looking wary. "What other foot?"

Beth sighed, she may as well tell him; he'd only bug her until she relented…or go all brooding, thinking she didn't trust him... "It's just….I keep waiting for you to flip out over something again."

Mick faced forward again, pulled over to the side of the road, and quickly turned back to her. "Are you talking about how I reacted the night I found out you knew what I was?"

Beth slowly nodded. "I know it's stilly, but I keep waiting-"

Mick shook his head. "No, it not silly, not after how I reacted and treated you I'm surprised it took this long to come back up." Mick stared between them for a few seconds, then with a humorless laugh, looked back up at her. "Heck, I'm surprised you're still around after how I acted."

Beth's eyes widened in surprise. "Why wouldn't I be around?"

"Beth, how I acted on that night…" Mick shook his head. "It was…horrible, and not fair to you. You had just saved my life, and I flipped out over finding out you hadn't told me you knew what I was."

Beth sighed. "No, I wasn't right either, I should have told you…but I couldn't bare thinking you might leave if you knew."

Mick sighed. "I probably would have…"

"I still should have told you, then everything would have been out in the open."

"Personally…I prefer how things have turned out now, than to how they would have after I left…"

Beth looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"After I left I would have had to start all over again…and you would have been left here by yourself…though I probably wouldn't have been able to keep myself away for more that a few weeks…who knows what could have happened in that time."

"I wouldn't have been entirely alone, I would have had Natasha, and I'm sure I would have found out about Jon at some point, it was inevitable, seeing as I work with him nearly every single day."

"Yes, that is true…but I wouldn't feel so secure about your safety if I wasn't there to look after you…" After a moment Mick nodded with a slight grimace. "True at first I would have been nonstop working to convince myself this wasn't the case…but eventually I would have ended up checking on you to at least see if you were safe."

Beth sighed. "Well, why don't we get to your house, Jon is probably wondering what happened to us."

Mick frowned, not entirely sure Beth was understanding what he was trying to say. "Beth…Beth…" When she wouldn't look up at him, Mick lifted her chin up. "Beth…I can't promise I won't flip out on anything…and I can't promise we won't get into fights…but I can promise, that I will never leave as a result of one of those times, and if I have to leave for some other reason, I will let you know before hand, and…and we'll work something out…ok?" Beth smiled; only a small smile; but Mick preferred it over the resigned look she had been wearing just minutes ago. "Ok?" Mick repeated when she didn't answer.

Beth nodded. "Yeah." She glanced down briefly, then looked back up at him. "If you leave, we won't have to figure anything out…"

Mick looked away quickly to hide the hurt he was sure was plain to see on his face. "I see…"

Beth smiled slightly. "No, I don't believe you do. I meant we don't have to figure out how to stay in touch…because I would be going with you."

Mick looked up at Beth in surprise. "I-what…"

Beth sighed then looked up at him, determination written clearly in her expression. "I've worked too hard to find you; too hard to get close to you; and I am not going to let that fail simply because you have to relocate from someone finding out or noticing something they shouldn't have." She gave a soft smile as she realized something. "You know…of all the friends I have…I only have two that are actually human. Maureen is very much human, I saw her eat food last week. Then Steve, he and I ate before going to one of the crime scenes a few weeks ago…think it was the night before I saw you."

Mick sighed. "You need to make other friends that aren't vampires, eventually you'll lose us all."

Beth said nothing for several moments, then sighed. "Let's just go to your house, Jon is waiting."

Mick frowned, but nodded, not wanting to go down this road of questioning just yet.

Beth reached for the handle, but frowned as Mick pulled it open for her. She pursed her lips as he walked to the entrance to his building to open that as well. As she walked through she glared at Mick, making sure to let him know how annoyed she was feeling.

"Beth, what is it?" Beth ignored him and continued to walk. "Beth, Beth hold up!" Mick stopped in front of her. "Beth talk to me, what did I do?"

Beth glared up at him. "If you don't want to be staked when we reach your rooms, then move out of my way." Beth said in a fierce whisper.

Beth winced internally as she saw the hurt flash through his eyes before he backed away, but she made no move to apologize. She needed to cool down before she could even begin to try explaining why she was so upset without blowing up on him.

She walked up the stairs rather than taking the elevator, needing to the walk to help burn off some of her steam.

"I'll see you when you get up there." Mick called from behind her, and she heard the ding of the elevator, as Mick left her to her thoughts.

She was about half way up, when the hairs on the back of her head tingled. Someone was near…someone she didn't trust… Carefully, Beth pulled out her knife, and looked around warily.

There! Just beyond the shadows…someone was watching her.

"Who's there?"

"Beth…" To her surprise, Josh stepped out.

"Josh, I wasn't-what're you doing here?"

Josh gave a slightly condescending smile. "We never finished our conversation earlier."

Beth nodded slowly. "Couldn't you have waited in the entrance…"

Josh shook his head, with that annoying and slightly creepy smile on his face, "But Beth, then we'd have been around St. John, we need to be able to talk freely."

"Um…right, sure we do." This wasn't Josh's usual behavior, and Beth wasn't quite sure how she should deal with it just yet. "What else did you want to say?" She lowered her knife back into her bag, but kept a tight hold on it. She didn't trust Josh right now, the hairs on the back of her neck were still standing on end; something wasn't right.

"How long has he been keeping you like this, it's ok, you can tell me, I promise, I'll help you."

Beth stared at Josh. She really wanted to ask him if he was joking, but didn't think that would be the best idea, considering his mental state right now. "Um…what do you mean?"

"Ah, smart idea Beth, make sure I know what's going on before giving away information." There was that smile again, Beth held back a shiver. "How long has St. John been holding you against your will?"

Beth's eyes widened. "Holding me against my- Josh, where did you get the idea I am being held against my will." Beth was fighting to remain calm. Vampires she knew how to deal with, just some silver, a stake through the heart, maybe some fire, rather simple. Humans…especially those who where in a different reality entirely, she had no clue on.

"You did, well not directly, you were smart, being more obvious that necessary to tell me you weren't interested, you knew it would perk my interest, and then when you flipped out on me, that was really good, not easy to spot unless someone was looking for them, and you knew I would be after your displays over the past couple of weeks." Beth could barely keep herself in place, but she let her heart rate go way up. She was already letting off enough fear to make every vampire in the state come running, but it couldn't hurt to help it along. "Just tell me what you want me to do?"

Beth thought quickly. "I can't say anything now, but you need to put Mick on the case, he's…" She shook her head as if to clear her thoughts. "I know he can find Lenni, and it'll give me an excuse to talk to you, now I really need to go otherwise he'll freak."

She turned to leave, but Josh grabbed her arm. "Beth, you're not safe with him."

"I can keep myself safe long enough for us to save that girl, now go before he finds you here! Please, for me!" She allowed a hint of pleading to enter her tone, a note that wasn't exactly faked. She wanted him away from her, she wanted him gone…she wanted Mick back with her.

"No, you need to come with me, I'll tell him we need to figure out details, whatever you need me to do, but you have to come with me."

"I can't, he'll kill you!" She tugged her arm away. "You want to protect me…but you have to let me protect you…" Beth held back the shudder that threatened to give her away at those words.

Reluctantly, Josh nodded. "Ok, be careful Baby." Beth almost gagged at the name, but managed a small, weak smile and turned to hurry up the stairs.

Once she wasn't so afraid of him coming back, she ran for the first elevator she could find, and pressed the button hurriedly. A hand grabbed her shoulder, and she grabbed it, twisting the person's arm as she turned to look at them. Mick's startled face stared back at her. She let go of his arm and grabbed him in a tight hug.

"Beth, Beth what's wrong?" Mick hugged her tightly to him, concern emanating from his voice.

"Josh, he…he's insane, he thinks you've kidnapped me or something, and are holding me against my will. He was all, oh gosh it was creepy."

"Beth, what happened? I could feel your fear from my room, Jon's probably wondering what the hell is going on by now."

"He was on one of the floors below, I don't know which one, I can't remember now, but he was waiting for me, he wanted to talk to me without you, he said we could _talk freely_ or something." Beth took a deep breath, and pulled back just far enough to look at him. "You're on the case to find Lenni; I can deal with Josh long enough for you to find her." She continued non-stop, her nerves making her talkative. "Jon can stay with me, I'll say he's there to catch things I might miss or something so I can do a story on it, and-"

Mick interrupted her. "Beth, if you think I am going to let you within twenty feet of this guy when I'm not around, you're delusional. I know you don't like to be taken care of like you can't do anything for yourself, but I'm sorry, he is dangerous, both to you, and to us."

Beth looked at him, drawing in a shaky breath. "When you say us, do you me what you are, or do you mean _us_?" She gestured between them on the last word.

"What I am." Beth frowned, not sure how she felt about that answer, and Mick quickly continued. "I mean, he might see something if he's following you around, and-" He broke off, shook his head, and started again. "I'm not explaining this right. I'm not worried about us because I just can't make myself believe you're going to fall for his crap." At that, Beth gave a smirk that mirrored Mick's. Mick spoke again, serious again. "Beth, I can take care of myself, but I can't do that, unless I know you are safe."

Beth sighed. "Fine, we'll have to figure out something so he can contact us though, that's why he needs our help in the first place, so maybe I can get Jon to watch him."

"Yeah I-"

"What am I doing?" Jon stood at the base of the stairs next to them. "What happened, Mick just took off as soon as he stepped in the door."

Beth bit her lip, then turned to Jon. "It's a long story…"

* * *

A/N-Next chapter in a few days, and after than, keep in touch and check my profile every so often.


	35. Chapter 35

A/N-Ok everyone, as promised. In case any of you haven't been on my profile, I'm still at 39 chapters, but they're larger now, more substance to them.

Also, this chapter hasn't seen a beta, so there may be mistakes in it. They're all mine, nobody else missed them, just me. But if you do spot one, please tell me, I'll fix it next time I log in. Thanks. :)

Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Chapter 35

Jon raised an eyebrow as Beth didn't elaborate. "Care to enlighten me?"

Beth gave a weak grin. "Yeah sure, let's get upstairs first though."

Jon turned to Mick, who nodded. "We'll explain everything there, but I think Beth should sit down for a while.

When Beth didn't argue that she could take care of herself, Jon immediately knew whatever happened on the stairs was more cause for concern than he originally thought. "Ok, you….um….get her up there, I'll make a cup of tea. What kind do you want Beth?"

"Um…Double Bergamot. If it's there, I think there should be, think I saw it before."

"K." Jon took off, and Mick was left to get Beth up to his floor.

"Do you want to take the stairs, or the elevator?"

For a moment, Beth said nothing. "Could…could we go down first?"

Mick looked confused. "Down where?"

"All the way down. I…I want to go down past where Josh was. I don't want to always be afraid of the stairs."

Mick was torn. He knew it was a good idea to do back there as soon as possible, but there was a chance Josh could still be around. "Beth…that makes sense…but what if Josh is down in the lobby?"

Beth bit her lip. Mick had a good point. "I still want to go, it'll be worth it. I hate being helpless, I hate being weak. I need to go down there."

After a moment Mick nodded. "Ok." He led them to the stairs down.

* * *

Jon stared at the tea kettle; listening as the water began to boil. As intently as he was focusing on the water, his mind was otherwise occupied. He was unsettled. To see Beth, one of the strongest people he knew, so shaken…it was nerve wracking. She had dealt with vampires, serial killers, and none of it had fazed her. But this…whatever happened on the stairs had certainly disturbed her.

The kettle whistled, startling him out of his thoughts. Shaking himself, he grabbed a mug and filled it, letting the tea bag steep.

He glanced at the door. Where were they? They should have been back by now. Leaving the mug on the counter, he walked to the door. Just as he opened it, the elevator dinged; announcing its arrival. Mick and Beth walked out, and Jon was relieved to see Beth was walking unaided and looking a good deal calmer.

"I was wondering where you guys had gotten to." He leaned against the door, feigning a casualness he wasn't even close to feeling at the moment.

It was Mick who answered his silent question. "We went down to the entrance. Beth wanted to go down the stairs."

Jon nodded. "Ah." He turned to Beth. "I think your tea is ready; it should be done steeping…though as I haven't made tea in a few decades, I could be wrong." He gave a rueful grin, and was glad to see Beth smile back.

She sighed, giving her head as slight shake. "That's fine, I just need something warm."

"Oh it's warm all right; too warm maybe." He stepped back to let them inside, closing and locking the door behind them.

She shrugged. "That's easy enough to fix. A few ice cubes and it'll be perfect. Warm enough to help me calm down, but cool enough to drink right away." She paused, then looked at Mick. "I'm rambling again aren't I?"

Mick nodded. "Yeah. Not as much as you were before though." After a moment, he added. "At least now you're staying on topic."

She sighed. "I'm sorry; normally it's not this bad, but…" She opened the freezer, grabbed the ice tray, and dropped several cubes into the mug with a splunk.

Jon shook his head. "We'll manage, it seems to be helping calm you down, so I don't care." Mick nodded his agreement.

Beth gave a slight nod, before moving to one of the armchairs, and curling up in it.

Jon glanced at Mick, feeling his own concern and helplessness starting to rise again, but Mick just shook his head. They were just going to have to wait for her to start talking.

* * *

For several minutes nothing was said as Beth sipped her tea, allowing it to calm her nerves.

Finally, taking a breath, she began to fill in their blanks. "Josh was waiting for me. He was on the stairs. I don't know how he got there…don't know how he knew I was-how he knew I would be going up the stairs alone, but…he…he was there." She took another careful sip. "He thinks Mick is keeping me here against my will…"

Jon frowned. "What? Why?"

Beth shook her head. "I don't know. He…he kept saying that I 'told' him…but-"

She broke off as Midnight jumped into the chair next to her. Beth gave a slight smile as she butted her head against Beth's knee. Slightly uncurling herself, Beth allowed the cat to climb onto her lap. Midnight plopped herself, and began to purr. Beth had to smile at that. Setting her tea on the table, she scratched at Midnight's head. Her purring increased.

Mick and Jon watched with smiles of relief.

Beth looked up at them. "Josh said I was being…basically he said I was playing hard to get…only over the top. He said it let him know something was wrong. He tried to get me to come with him." She shook her head. "Anyway, you're on the case he told us about, with Lenni Hayes. I don't know much about her, only that she was involved with Amir Fayed, but other than that, I haven't a clue. I could probably ask Carl-"

She stopped abruptly. "Oh gosh, I completely forgot about Carl!"

"Beth, he probably has a lot on his mind. If he wants to talk to you, he'll call, or come find you."

Jon frowned. "Uh…guys." They both looked at him. "Carl Davis?"

Beth nodded. "Yeah, he drove me to Pollock's house...Gerald was there, he'd staked Mick. He came at me, Carl tried to protect me, and Stofsky threw him back. Carl was knocked out, and Stofsky came after me, I staked him, and went to find Mick." She looked down. "By the time we came out, Carl was awake." Beth stroked Midnight's fur, lost in thought.

"Ok, wait, wait. So Carl knows about vampires?"

"Yeah, and he actually didn't seem to take it all that bad." Mick frowned, slightly confused. "He didn't seem to care all that much, though that could be cause he'd just been thrown across a street like a stick."

Jon shook his head. "So what does he know?"

Beth spoke up again. "He knows that Stofsky is…was?" She looked at Mick for confirmation, he nodded.

"Yeah, he's gone."

"Anyway, he knows he was a vampire, he knows Mick is. I told him that vampires are very strong, and that I've known about them since I was five."

Jon nodded. "Nothing else?"

Beth shook her head. "He seemed really dazed. I'm hoping he calls me tomorrow. I can answer some of his questions then…can't I?" She looked at Mick. "I know Josef wasn't happy about me knowing, but what about Carl?"

Mick frowned, thinking for a minute. "Well, however paranoid Josef is, even he won't be able to deny Carl could be very useful. As a member of the police force, he notices things. He's trained to. He could help keep a look out for something that looks like it has vampires involved." He looked at Beth. "Do you think he can be trusted?"

She nodded. "Absolutely."

"You're sure?" He pressed.

Beth gave him a dry look. "Do you remember a small scrawny kid I used to hang out with all through school?"

Mick nodded. "Yeah, the one obsessed with cars, right?"

"Yes, that's Carl. We lost touch when we went to college, and when I went into reporting, he didn't like it very much, so that didn't help. But I know Carl, if I can explain to him what's going on, and what will happen next, he'll help, I'm positive."

Jon piped up. "Aww Beth, I didn't realize you'd joined my ranks already."

Mick and Beth looked at each other in confusion, as they both shrugged, Beth looked over to Jon. "Ok, we're both lost, so you've gotta explain a bit more."

Jon sighed. "Oh all right, if I must. Only fools are positive, and as Natasha continuously tells me, I am a fool. You have joined the fool ranks by stating you were positive."

Beth raised an eyebrow. "You couldn't have just said 'only fools are positive'. Not to mention, is this really the time more jokes?"

"Now really, would that have helped clear the tension any? And of course it's a good time for jokes, almost every times is good."

She pursed her lips. "Yeah, ok, I'll remember that." She rolled her eyes, and turned back to Mick. "I'm just going to ignore him now. Anyway, as I was saying, he'll help. He won't tell anyone…well, other than me, but I'm pretty sure that's acceptable." A thought occurred to her, and she turned to Jon.

"Does Carl know you?"

"Oh, you're done ignoring me huh?"

Beth glared at him. "Just answer the damn question please."

He hesitated. "Um…I don't think so. I mean, I've seen him at crime scenes and all, but we never spoke."

Beth nodded. "But he's seen you around, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Would you mind coming with me if he calls? If he finds something out, I don't want him to think he can only tell me."

"Um…" Jon glanced at Mick. "Maybe some other time? One of us is bad enough, and I doubt Mick is going to be letting you out of his sight anytime soon with this Josh thing going on. So yes, you can tell him about me, but I'll have to meet him some other time."

"That makes sense." She sighed. "As much as this whole situation annoys me, you're right, and Carl might be able to help in the Josh department. He's seen how Josh acts around me, so all this probably won't come as that big of a shock."

Jon nodded. "Good idea. How 'bout you bring my race up when you introduce us. One less thing to worry about when he calls."

"Yeah." She sighed. "Ok, that is enough chit-chat. It's bed time for the reporter."

Mick moved from where he was leaning against the counter, and took her tea. "You go get ready for bed." He nodded to her, turning to Jon, he added with a grin. "You know where the door is."

Jon scoffed, though he grinned back. "Oh I see how it is. Beth needs her sleep, and I'm curdled blood once she's not here to make you play nice."

Mick shook his head. "No, you're curdled blood all the time. It's just not worth the effort to show."

Before Jon could retort, Beth called. "Hey, behave you two." She stood up, Midnight resting in her arms. "I'm going to catch up on some sleep, can I trust you two not to kill each other?"

Jon grinned. "Aww, don't worry, we'll just throw each other around a bit, but no dying will occur."

She raised an eyebrow, moving to stand at the foot of the stairs. "You're both dead already, so forgive me if I'm not reassured."

"Damn it, she found my loop hole." He turned to Mick, who was quietly watching as usual. "You know, you just had to go and pick the observant one, didn't you?"

Mick shrugged. "If I hadn't, we most likely wouldn't be standing here having this conversation."

"All right, all right." They turned to look at Beth, sporting matching sheepish looks. "Either quit it, or I'll sick Midnight on you."

Jon rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'm heading out, gotta get myself some blood before hitting the freezer." He waved at Mick. "Enjoy your night." He grinned. "In or out of your freezer." He sped away at vampire speed, avoiding Mick's yell.

Beth pursed her lips to keep from laughing. "Oh unruffle your feathers. You get some blood, and then get to sleep."

He walked over to her. "Yeah, yeah, I'm gettin' there." Beth was suddenly very conscious of how much taller than her he was. "First, in the morning, you're going to tell me what had you upset enough to make you go up the stairs."

Beth blinked. 'What's he talking abo-oh.' She nodded. "Ok."

He nodded. "Good. Now go get some sleep." For a moment he stood frozen, then brushed past her into the kitchen.

Beth turned, and went up the stairs into the bedroom. Lying Midnight on the foot of the bed, she changed out of her clothes. Looking at them, she wrinkled her nose. They were ripped and torn from her earlier scuffle with Pollock. The pants were manageable, a wash and they'd be fine. The shirt however…that was garbage. Nothing she could do about it.

She tossed them onto the chair and changed into Mick's shirt she had brought upstairs earlier. It seemed like days had gone by, but it was actually only this morning she and Mick had played their trick on Josh.

She looked at her clothes again, she really should take a shower…but she was just too tired. It would have to wait until morning when she could actually think clearly.

Plopping herself next to Midnight, she scratched the cat's head. Rolling over, Midnight stared at her, upside down for a minute, before curling into a ball, and closing her eyes. Beth watched her with a fond smile.

Getting off the bed, Beth grabbed her pants, and pulled her phone out of the pocket. It was almost 1:00 AM. Quickly she typed Mo an e-mail.

_Hey Mo, got some good info on that story, just getting home now, details when I get in tomorrow, not sure what time. Beth_

Beth had never been so glad Mo didn't require a specific time chart, just the amount of hours and the story. It meant she wouldn't have to be in right when Buzzwire opened for the day, though truthfully it never did completely close.

Setting her alarm for 9:30, she tossed her phone on the table by the bed, pulled the blankets up around her, and was asleep by the time her head hit the pillow.

* * *

A/N-So was that a better ending than last chapter? I know it still sucks, but I think this one's better to leave you with until the story is fiished than the other one. Agree disagree? Thoughts on the chapter? Plans to kill/maim me? lol

I'm off to re-watch ep 4 (again), lol, gotta make sure I don't miss something important for the next few chapters.

PP


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